Who Am I? What Am I?
by Sorceress Myst
Summary: An old Final Fantasy VII fanfic featuring a cracked up Mary Sue OC. Read for educational purposes as this is a good example of what a Mary Sue is.
1. Start of the Journey

Who Am I? What Am I?

By: Sorceress Myst 

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters so don't sue me, I'm broke anyway.

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          "Well Mrs. Brentworth, I'm off. Take care of Robin for me." Said the young woman to her guardian. The small brunette tried to leave but was cut off by a little girl with blonde hair.

"Where are you going Tarae?" Tarae sighed and patted the girl's head.

"I'm going to help a friend in Midgar. I'll only be gone for a week… maybe, so be good to Mrs. Brentworth." 

"Wait!" called out an elderly lady as Tarae tried to leave again, "What about that discovery you were supposed to announce tomorrow?" 

"E-mail President Shinra and tell him I'll be there to announce it at his meeting the day after tomorrow." And with that, Tarae finally left her office/room.

"Why didn't Tarae go with Tifa when she was here?" asked Robin as she made herself comfy in the armchair behind Tarae's desk now that she was left in charge of the factory and mansion until her cousin returned.

"Because Tarae just came back from the party and was still in a daze from dancing with you-know-who." Mrs. Brentworth answered with a smile on her wrinkled face.

          Tarae was on the roof of her mansion looking at her accomplishments. When Tarae was around 8, she had to take care of her self and her cousin, who was no older than 1. After she discovered a way to make materia grow stronger, her small business grew bigger and bigger. Soon every invention or discovery of hers made her a million Gil richer and Shinra Inc. wanted to hire Tarae. She began to smile as she remembered Shinra's attempts to have her join the company, like the one time President Shinra offered to adopt her because she couldn't run her own company without someone to take care of her, since she was only a child. But Rufus ruined his plan by offering his nanny, Mrs. Brentworth, to take care of Tarae until she was 18. Now Tarae was 17 and has 6 months until the awful day she has to say goodbye to her nanny, who became a close friend.   

"Miss Destine, we're ready to go when you are." Said the pilot.

"Good let us depart to Costa del Sol and take the jet to Midgar." Said Tarae as she climbed into the helicopter. The pilot nodded and started the propeller, Tarae watched her mansion get smaller as the helicopter ascended into the night sky. 

"I hope you don't mind my asking, but why are you going to help that rebel group when you know they are trying to destroy the very people who gives you a supply of Mako to experiment on?" the pilot yelled over the noise emitting from the helicopter.

"Because one of their members saved my life." Tarae yelled back, "After that accident 10 years ago, Robin and I were about to freeze to death until Tifa's family took us in for the rest of winter."

          20 minutes later the helicopter landed and Tarae got out and stretched.

"It'll take around 15 minutes before we can get the jet operational." Said the pilot as he climbed out. 

"Very well, I will be at the beach until then." Tarae walked past the quiet town and made her way to the shoreline. She closed her eyes as the water lapped at her boots and the gentle sea wind blew her shoulder length hair about. Sometimes, when the world about her was quiet, she could hear the planet softly humming into the night, but now she heard it crying in pain. This distressed her for some time, but she knew that she couldn't do anything about it. At least not before the problem gets worse. Unable to bear the depressing sound, she began to walk away. Suddenly the planet gasped and a faint rumble could be felt. With a grin on her face, Tarae faced the dark ocean again and chuckled.

"That was probably a Mako reactor exploding. Isn't it nice to know that some people besides the Cetra still care about you?" Tarae's question was answered by the planet's resumed cry. She just shrugged and continued to walk out of the beach, speaking with the planet was never one of her strengths anyway. Tarae returned to find everything ready, the pilot motioned for her to get on the jet.

"Now remember, land in the outskirts of Midgar and do not get caught in their radars." She reminded the pilot.

"Yes ma'am." The pilot answered as he shut the door to the jet and started the engine.

          Tarae walked toward the city gates and swiped her fake I.D. through the card slot. The small computer beeped, but didn't allow her to pass. Frustrated, Tarae entered a code into the computer and the machine short-circuited. Before she entered the city, she pulled out a blue scarf from her travel bag and tied her hair back so she wouldn't be recognized. 

_"Sector 7 hadn't changed at all",_ thought Tarae as she walked through the slums, _"I wonder why Shinra restricted this area. Does he know that AVALANCHE lives here?"_ Soon her train of thought was interrupted when she sensed a threatening presence following her. Acting as if she was looking for somebody, Tarae turned around and spied a young man no older than her with rusty brown hair and a wicked looking smile. He started walking towards her. She turned around with a disgusted face.

_"Well this should be interesting"_ Up ahead was an older man in his late 20s, so she walked up to him, making it look like he was who she was looking for.

"Excuse me sir, could you please tell me where Tifa's 7th Heaven is?" The man looked at her, she could sense he was worried.

"I don't think I should tell you, that place is a bar. It's a terrible place for young women." The man started to walk away but Tarae grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, you misunderstand. My friend works at the bar and I was hoping to visit her." She said politely and looked at the man with pleading eyes. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well you do seem honest," he started, "Keep going straight ahead and take the first turn right. Soon you will see a signpost in between two buildings. Just pass the signpost and Tifa's bar should be right in front of you." Tarae pulled out a small bag full of Gil and held it out to the man.

"Here, this is for your kindness."

"No, I can't take your money." He refused, but she grabbed his hand and put the bag in the palm of his hand.

"I insist. After all don't you have a family to feed?" Surprised, the man stuttered a 'thank you' and Tarae just smiled. The grateful man hurried home, leaving Tarae to continue towards her destination once she noticed the young man was gone.

Once Tarae reached the signpost, she saw a group of men walk away. As soon as she passed the signpost, she found out the reason why the men were leaving. There was a large African man with a gunarm blocking the entrance to the bar. __

_"Let me guess, I have to fight him to get through."_ She thought irritably.

"Hey there angel face." she turned to find that rusty haired man from before.

"Hello." She muttered back.

"Don't you know this is a dangerous area for women? For a price, I could get you through this town safely."

"I'll take my chances." she said angrily as she tried to walk away from him. The young man seized her arm and forced her against a wall.

"But I can't leave 'til I know you're in a safe place."

With a sigh, she took out a smaller bag of Gil from her pocket and muttered darkly, "Take your damn Gil and don't let me see your sorry ass again."

"I don't accept Gil, I only accept something a little personal to women." He said, eyes traveling from her face to her breasts. With venom filling her emerald eyes, she pushed the man out of her way, but he pushed her back against the wall and pulled out a knife.

"I was hoping I wouldn't resort to this but you leave me no choice. Come with me or I will kill you." The man said, frowning.

"That's a nice sharp blade there," Tarae said while she pulled out her short sword, "It reminds me of my blade except mine's bigger and sharper." The young man jumped back for a second but didn't back down. He started to attack her but she easily dodged out of the way and back kicked him into the wall. The man regained his senses and prepared for another attack. Tarae saw him coming and shouted, "Radiance!" Suddenly the man was covered in a bight light and fell unconscious. She sheathed her sword and dropped a Gil on the man.

"Thank you, I've been meaning to test out this materia orb." Then she looked at the bar's entrance to find the guard gone. She turned around to make sure that he wasn't going to attack her from behind too. Satisfied, she walked into the bar. 

Sorceress Myst: So did you like it? Or did you hate it? On the next chapter, Tarae will finally meet the members of AVALANCHE. C ya next chapter!                             


	2. Meeting the Members of AVALANCHE

Chapter Two

I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters except Tarae.

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          Tarae walked into the bar to find Cloud and Tifa talking to that guard. She assumed that the guard was actually the leader of AVALANCHE.__

_"Well, well, well if it isn't Cloud Strife." _She thought as she approached the group. 

"Hello, I heard you need a good computer hacker with ties to Shinra." She said as she pulled off the blue scarf. 

"Tarae! You came!" Tifa said happily as she hugged her friend. Cloud however looked nervous.

"Hi Tar- I mean Miss Destine." 

"It's alright Cloud you can call me Tarae, we're not surrounded by the members of SOLDIER." 

"Yo, wait jus one minute. Your friend works for Shinra and ya ask her for help?" the large man asks Tifa.

"Uh, Barret she doesn't-"

"Work for Shinra? Hahahahaha, I can't even stand being with President Shinra for more than a minute let alone work in the same building." Tarae said, interrupting Tifa.

"I see ya with President Jackass on da T.V. everyday." Barret snorted.

"Yeah, I been doing research on my neo-Mako project and I need to get Mako energy for the experiments."

"Neo-Mako?" Cloud asked, confused.

"Remember, the safer alternate to Mako energy project I'm working on."

"Tarae do you realize that if we succeed in defeating Shinra, you will loose your supply of Mako energy?" Tifa asked.

"It's a small sacrifice, but I'll manage. Now down to business. All I can do is give information about what Shinra is doing, planning, and their whereabouts. I can't get caught helping you guys because they could easily kidnap my little cousin and ransom her. Other than that I can be a valuable member to this group." Tarae said as she set her bag down on one of the tables. 

"An' how much do ya want?" Barret asked unimpressed.

"That's the best part, I'll work for free." Barret's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Did ya say 'free'? You're in!," He turned and faced Cloud, "An' why can't _you_ work for free?"

Cloud put on a grin and said, "Easy. She is rich, I am not."

"Yeah, yeah. Get yo spiky white ass in bed soon. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day." Barret grumbled as he rode the pinball machine down.

"We all sleep down stairs, so come down when you're ready to sleep." Tifa said once the pinball machine came back up. Tarae watched Cloud smile as Tifa went down stairs.

"Have you told her?" she asked. Cloud acted innocent and said, "Told who what?"

"Did you tell Tifa your feelings for her?"

"No, I'm not ready."

"That's what you said 7 years ago. Cloud you're 21 years old and you're not gonna be any more ready than you are now."

"Leave me alone."

"Fine! Have it your way. But don't come crying to me when Tifa's getting married to someone else." Scolded Tarae. Then she strolled over to the pinball machine and pressed the button to go down.  

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          Tifa opened her eyes to find that Cloud was sleeping a few inches away from her. She blushed and silently got up. It appeared that only Cloud and Barret were the only ones asleep.

_"I hope Tarae is getting along with the others. Oh, I wish I could kiss Cloud, he looks so cute!"_ Tifa thought as she rode the pinball machine up.

          When she reached the bar she found Wedge sitting at the bar giving Tifa the puppy dog eyes, pretending like he had nothing to eat for 3 days. Tarae was on her laptop computer, surrounded by Biggs and Jessie.

"Shinra Inc. still makes weapons and so they have discussion boards and articles on effective weapons. Here's mine, I titled it Why My Pipe Bombs Are More Powerful Than Scarlet's Rusted Rocket Launchers. Heh, heh I couldn't get that old hag off my back for a week." Tarae said while surfing the Shinra Executive homepage.

"Are they really that powerful?" asked Jessie.

"No, I just said that to get revenge on Scarlet because she said my sword was a wasted piece of scrap metal."

"You sound like you hate everyone in Shinra Inc." Biggs commented.

"Of course! They're nothing but stuck up jackasses." she emphasized with a wrinkled up nose.

"Oh really?", Tifa said in a babyish voice while passing out waffles to everyone, "What about Rufus?"

"Shut up!" shouted Tarae as she blushed a bright red.

"Hey, hey! She's blushin'!" Biggs teased. 

"I thought you love Rufus." Tifa continued. Tarae blushed even more, then Barret came into the bar and gave her an idea.

"Well don't _you_ love Cloud?" Tarae asked sweetly. Tifa blushed and Barret said, "Yeah 'cause Tifa gots bad taste in men." Everyone started laughing.

          Soon the waffles were eaten up and Biggs, Wedge and Jessie already left.

Everyone else was waiting for Cloud to wake up. Tifa was holding Marlene's rubber ball when suddenly she heard footsteps.

"Good morning Cloud, did you sleep well?" Tifa asked politely.

"Next to you, who wouldn't?" He answers with a grin. Tifa blushes and says, "I don't know what you mean."

"I know what he means!" Tarae shouted in the background. Tifa quickly silenced her by throwing the rubber ball at her. 

"I'm going this time." Announced Tifa. Cloud nodded and began to explain how to use materia to Barret. Tarae rolled her eyes and bounced the ball back to Marlene. After years of practice with President Shinra, she learned how to drone out boring lectures and still look like she's paying attention. She began reading her E-mail, one was from President Shinra.

 To: Mystic Magic Inc.

 From: Shinra Inc.

Dear Miss Destine,

           The scheduled meeting will be held back until later. Sources tell me that the rebel group AVALANCHE's next target is the #5 reactor. Scarlet has a new weapon waiting for them at the entrance. I will have SOLDIER block all escape routes to ensure that the vermin will die. 

                                                          Signed,

                                                          President Shinra

"Take care of the bar Marlene!" Said Tifa as she started to leave.

"Wait Barret! I just got-" Tarae couldn't finish as Barret turned and yelled, "Ain't got time. The train's about ta leave!"

"Damn." Tarae muttered as the group left.

"What's gonna happen to them?" Marlene asked from behind the counter.

"They might get caught before they set the bomb. If only I can somehow manage to get them off the train before the I.D. check point, then maybe they can sneak into the reactor by going under the plate." she explained as the train whistle blew.

"Daddy said that they were gonna jump off the train after the I.D. check point because the Shinra tighten up security."

"Oh yeah! Jessie made Cloud's I.D. different from others, so if I warn the train station, they can chase them out before the check point." Tarae took out her cell phone.

"Oh-no the train's leaving!" Exclaimed Marlene.

"Don't worry. …Hello I'm an anonymous employee from Shinra Inc., the password is 'Neo-Midgar'. I'd like to report a suspicious character with an unusual I.D. card. He's riding on the train now. Uh-huh. Thanks, bye." she put the phone back in her bag, "Now all we have to do is wait"

          After about an hour of washing dishes, telling customers to come back later, and five games of 'Go Fish', Tarae was sitting alone at the bar when Barret and his group minus Cloud came into the bar. Tifa's cheeks were tear stained and was holding back more. She was still the tough acting girl Tarae remembered.

"I'm sorry, I tried to tell you that Shinra had a trap for you. I guess it wasn't quick enough." she explained as she hugged Tifa, "What happened to Cloud?"

"He fell off the plate from the Robo-SOLDIER thing." Jessie said. She let go of Tifa.

"Wait, in front of the reactor?" Wedge nodded in response.

"Then there is a chance he might still be alive. There are a bunch of soft materials on the ground in sector 5." Tarae said as she took out her phone and went down stairs.

"While she's doin' dat, we'll go look for information on da street. Tifa you stay and watch da bar. Move out!" Barret ordered. Soon Tifa was all by her self.

_"Did Tarae mean it? Could Cloud still be alive?"_ Tifa thought as she followed Tarae downstairs, not noticing four men entering the bar.

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Sorceress Myst: As you probably guessed, the next chapter will feature Don Corneo and Aeris. Also, even though I'm a Cloud + Tifa fan doesn't mean I hate Aeris so don't flame me about that.      


	3. Meeting the Don

Chapter 3

Once more, I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters except Tarae

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          Tifa found Tarae in a phone conversation with whom ever she called. She waited patiently as Tarae finally said something.

"Oh, okay. Thanks Elmyra. Bye." Tarae said, then she put her phone in the pocket of her baggy brown pants.

"Who was that?" asked Tifa.

"I was trying to reach a friend in sector 5 to help find Cloud, but she's not home." she explained, "I'm sure he's still alive. …Where are the others?"

"Out to find some information. I wonder if Cloud's okay." A smirk formed on Tarae's lips.

"What?"

"Nothing. Cloud might get a few scratches, but there is no way he could've died. The ground is polluted with soft materials."

"But what if he doesn't know how to get to back sector 7?"

"Jeez Tifa, can you say 'obsessed'? You told me you haven't seen him in seven years and I figured you would have been all over him already." Tifa blushed. A thud was heard upstairs.

"Oh! Customers. I-I better go back to the bar." she said while running to the pinball machine. Tarae shook her head and looked behind the table.

"Did you get that recorded Marlene?" she asked as the little girl crawled out of her hiding place.

"Uh-huh! Too bad Tifa didn't say 'I love Cloud very much' or anything." Marlene said in a disappointed tone.

"Yeah, I know, but its good enough black mail for now. Thanks Marlene." Tarae tinkered with the tape recorder for a while and then placed it on the table.

"GET OUT OF MY BAR!!!" Tifa shouted from up stairs. Tarae quickly tied her hair back with her blue scarf and ran to the pinball machine.

"Marlene get back to your hiding place and don't come out until I say so!" she ordered as the machine ascended.

          When Tarae reached the bar she found 4 men there. One was restraining Tifa as she struggled to get free and two of the men were on either side of that young man who attacked her before.

"This isn't funny Stanley!" Tifa shouted at the rusty haired man.

"Don't worry sweetheart we might let you go once you tell us the whereabouts of your friend. She owes me."  Stanley said while he ran his hand through his hair. Tarae turned away a little so that her short sword wasn't showing.

"Let Tifa go! I'm right here."

"Well, if it isn't angel face. You want me to let your friend go? What's the word I'm looking for? Uuuuhhh no! Get her boys!"

          The bulky men beside Stanley started walking towards Tarae, but she held her ground. When the thugs were close enough, she unsheathed her sword and swiftly brought it down on one and ducked the other. The one she slashed now had a bloody scar on his face. The two men tried to attack at the same time, but she dropped down and swung her leg causing them to fall down. Then she quickly got up and cast a lightning spell on them. Meanwhile, Tifa used the distraction to her advantage by ramming her head back causing the man to let go of her. She then punched him in the face and side kicked him. He flew over the bar and landed on Stanley. Soon gunshots were heard as Barret thundered in the bar and chased the men out. Tarae summoned a fireball in her hand and followed Barret outside.

"Hey Stanley! Here's something to remember me by!" she shouted as she threw the fireball at Stanley. It hit him in the ass and he ran around in circles screaming.

"Looks like ya took care of dat guy!" Barret commented before he went back inside. Tarae sheathed her sword and followed him back inside.

"So what the word on the street?" Tarae asked Barret as she sat in a chair.

"Something about this guy named Don Corneo. Some merchant from sector 6." Jessie answered in Barret's place.

"Don Corneo? Lately Shinra has been restricting this area, forcing me to strike deals with the Don for good scrap metal for my factory workers." Explained Tarae. 

"So do you think you could get more info from Corneo himself?" Tifa asked from behind the bar. 

"Tifa, leave da leach alone. He can't do nothin'." Barret said.

"I don't know. He works for Shinra." Tarae warned.

"So how could we near him? He lives in a guarded mansion." Asked Wedge.

"I know!" Tarae exclaimed scaring Biggs in the process, "The jerk wants to settle down with a wife so every night he picks a girl to sleep with. We can send a girl to go in get the info and leave." 

"I'll go. I can take care of that guy." Tifa announced, "I need to do something." Jesse looked doubtful.

"Are you sure Tifa? I can go if you want."

"Don't worry I will go with her. I need to get a shipment to my factory anyway. Besides, do you really want to wear a dress Jesse?" Tarae laughed when Jesse got a disgusted look on her face.

"Awright you can go."  Barret grumbled as he sat down on a stool. Marlene came up on the pinball machine and climbed into his lap while Jesse and Biggs went downstairs to work on the computer. Wedge strolled over to the nearest table to eat some snacks he bought before he got on the train.

"I'll arrange for a Chocobo Carriage so we can go in style. And if my memory is correct, you will have to apply for a job at the Honey Bee Inn to see the fat ass." Tarae said while pulling out her blue business suit and cell phone.

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"So all you have to do is sound like a slut. Most men like that. …A least in the slums" Tarae explained as the Carriage rode through sector 7. Tifa was wearing a beautiful blue velvet dress that reached mid thigh and showed a lot of cleavage. It was quite a battle to get Tifa to wear the revealing dress, but once Tarae mentioned that Cloud would probably love to see her in it made her at least consider it. Tifa was watching the 7th Heaven fading away as the carriage slowly rolled away while Tarae was hiding inside.

"Why do you say that?" she asked while straitening out her dress.

"Some men have better sense and are better gentlemen, like Cloud."

"Or do you mean Rufus?" Tifa chuckled.

"Change of subject!" was Tarae's immediate reply.

"Hmm. But what if I still don't get picked?"

"Don't worry, I'll make up stuff during the meeting." She answered, "Hey look! There's the gate!" After they passed the gate they saw some familiar faces at the playground. 

"Look its Cloud! He's okay!" Tifa shouted happily, "Who is that with him?"

"Looks like my friend already found him." Tarae said as she gave a mock salute to Cloud.

          Tarae and Tifa looked at the entrance to Corneo's mansion. Tarae sighed and straightened out her business suit. 

"I hope he doesn't over price his products." Tarae grumbled as she walked up to the guard.

"Hello, I'm Tarae Destine, president of Mystic Magic Inc.. I was wondering if I could speak with Don Corneo about scrap metal shipment to my factory. I also brought a young lady who wishes to get a job at the Honey Bee Inn, and I understand that Corneo has to interview them first."

"Well we haven't received early notice, but we could arrange a meeting since your leaving the Don a lady to choose for the night." The guard said as he grabbed the door handle and shouted, "Two ladies coming through!" Tarae and Tifa walked pass the guard and to the front desk inside.

"Why Miss Destine, what a pleasant surprise," said a man with dark hair and a seductive smile, "Are you going to try to see if you have a chance with the Don?"

"You and I both know that will be a cold day in hell. Now can you arrange a meeting please? You used to work at my factory and you know how important scrap metal was for the experiments." Her answer wiped the smile off his face.

"I will go inform him now." He muttered then glanced at Tifa. His smile returned before he reached the elegant stairway. Tifa finally spoke when he was gone.

"I don't like the look he gave me."

"Don't blow it yet. I'll try to scare him, but if threats won't work then use this as a last resort." Tarae gives her a small throwing dagger.

"Tarae…I won't need it. Believe it or not, I do know my way around men. After all I do own a bar." Soon the man appeared again and motioned them to follow.

 "The Don is free right now, so follow me and I will take you to his office." He led Tarae and Tifa up stairs and stopped at the middle door.

"Here is the Don's office. Now I will take you to the waiting room." He was about to grab Tifa's arm, but she moved away, acting like she was not paying attention..

"Sir, I'd appreciate it if you do not touch the lady while she is waiting." Tarae said while glaring before she entered.

          The Don's office was a brightly lit, over decorated room. Behind the desk was a very fat and not to mention very ugly man. _"He's looking at me as if I'm not even wearing clothes." _Tarae thought as she assumed her nonchalant appearance. She sat down in a large black chair, wishing she didn't have to look at the man.

"I hear you need some scrap metal for your factory." He said in a breathy voice.

"Yes, 50 pounds. How much does would that cost?" she asked, displeased with his behavior.

"For you, it would cost a night with me."

"Excuse me?"

"If you want 50 pounds of scrap metal then you must spend the night with me." Corneo said seductively.

"You should know that I am close friends with President Shinra and when he finds out how you are treating me, I will make sure he sends his Turks after you." She answered in a stuck up manner. For a moment Corneo's eyes widened in fear.

"Your underage anyway. How about 10,000 Gil?" She believed she must have really scared him if he was going to offer such a ridiculously cheap price for it.

"Deal. When will I be expecting it to come in?"

"Oh about a week. Now I also heard you left me a lady to play with."

"Yes, I thought she would be a good gift for you. Normally I don't like to hear such things, but I heard she's the best at pleasuring men." she said with a snobbish grin on her face. She began to describe Tifa to Corneo and the more she talked about her, the longer his tongue got as it hanged out of his mouth. Tarae thought she was going to throw up at the sight of all that drool dripping out of his mouth.

"She sounds lovely Miss Destine, thank you very much for bringing her here. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to see her and two others who wish to witness my manliness." Tarae nodded and gratefully left the room. 

"All right ladies, this way." Said the man as three women approached the Don's office door. Tarae saw Tifa in the lead, then her friend Aeris, who was in a red dress, and finally Cloud. She chuckled at the sight of Cloud in a dress. She gave Tifa the thumbs up, waved to Aeris, and told Cloud, "Make sure you give him a kiss for me Miss Strife!" _"'Cause I sure as hell won't."_ Cloud looked horrified as he entered the office.

"Miss Destine, I assume you know the way out." The man said as he walked to the door near the staircase. Tarae nodded and left trusting that everything will be okay.

          About five minutes later, Tarae was wearing her usual form fitting, off-the-shoulders white shirt and baggy brown pants, waiting outside Corneo's mansion for someone to come out. Twenty minutes later she sensed everybody was in danger. She couldn't barge in there without a disguise, so she ran out of Corneo's market place to find a Shinra soldier wandering around by himself. She hid in the shadows and called the soldier over. He smirked from behind his mask and began walking towards her. Tarae was one smirking after knocking him unconscious with the hilt of her sword. Soon she was back at Corneo's mansion door with a Shinra uniform on. After finding the doors locked, she used her small gold hairclip as a lock pick to get in. She ran all the way to his bedroom only to get nauseated again because he was wiggling his hips in a stupid victory dance.

"Who goes there?" He bellowed when he noticed Tarae. She walked up near the end of his bed and tried her best to sound like a man.

"Don Corneo you are under arrest for spilling secrets to the enemy." Corneo started to smile, making her think she didn't do a good job at sounding like a man.

"Oh I don't think you can arrest me." he laughed as he pulled a lever causing her to fall in a trap door. Once she regained her senses she saw a radio in front of her.

_"It must've fallen out of my pocket. Now Shinra H.Q. knows what Corneo did."_ she thought as she destroyed the device and took off the uniform. After a moment of silence, she heard Cloud and the others talking. With nothing else to do, she followed the sound of their voices so she could get out of the sewer.

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Sorceress Myst: Okay so Aeris didn't have that much of an appearance in this chapter, but she will next chapter. C ya!  


	4. Pillar Collapse

Chapter 4 

What do ya know! I still don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters and I'm still broke!

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          It didn't take too long for Tarae to catch up with the others. She silently followed behind them, listening in on their conversation until they were near the exit of the sewers.

"Don't worry Tifa. We still have time to stop them from setting the bomb." Aeris said optimistically.

"Speaking of bombs, where did Tarae slither off to?" asked Cloud. Tarae answered him by shouting in his ear, "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!? YOU MISS YOUR BOYFRIEND CORNEO?"

Cloud turned and threatened to hit her but she jumped out of the way and asked Tifa, "So what information did the fat man drool out?"

"They're going to destroy Sector 7 by releasing the plate." Tifa cried out.

"So that's why Sector 7 is off limits. Come on we have to go stop them!" she shouted as she climbed the ladder to the train graveyard.

Once everybody was out Cloud sighed and said, "I'm sorry Aeris. I got you involved in this."

"Don't tell me to go home." Tarae acted like she was upset and muttered, "Aw man!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Tarae. I forgot how much you wanted to ride on my staff." Aeris said mockingly.

"Hey! I'm not a witch!" she shouted.

"Then what are you?" Tarae was afraid she was going to ask that question.

"I-I …I don't know." Aeris frowned and let the subject drop as Tifa walked up to one of the trains and said, "Let's see, if we go through the trains that are lit up then we should be able to get out of here."

"Alright let's mosey." Cloud ordered.

"I know an old pilot who would hate to hear you say that." Tarae commented as she followed the group. 

          Everyone was silent as they walked through the train graveyard. Aeris would sometimes stare at Cloud and Tifa and get an odd look on her face and Tarae would glare at her. Cloud occasionally put his arm around Tifa's shoulder and try to cheer her up, but it didn't seem to work. Tarae suddenly had an idea to cheer Tifa up.

"Hey, who did Corneo pick?"

Aeris turned to her and said, "Cloud."

"I thought so 'cause despite all that I taught Tifa, Corneo would choose a girl with bulging muscles!"

"I think Cloud was about to kiss him when we got there." Tifa said smiling. Cloud blushed and said, "But-"

"Cloud, I was joking when I said 'Give him a kiss for me'" Tarae snickered, "Oh great! A dead end."

"Hey no problem! We can move the trains to create a new path." Cloud said as he jumped into one of trains, grateful for the distraction to make the girls forget the conversation.

After they got past the train graveyard, Tarae noticed one of the train attendants standing there waiting for something. She knew the guy was waiting for the pillar to collapse. He was ready to accept his fate. Tarae rewarded him with a smile and the attendant smiled back, knowing that this will be the last time he can smile.

"We made it! The pillar is still standing!" Tifa said, relieved.

"Wait. Do you hear something above us?" Cloud asked. Aeris strains her ears and answers, "…Gunfire?" They look up to see Barret shooting like crazy on top of the pillar. Another figure, against the railing of the stairway, started firing at something and fell over the railing from the blows the gun made.

"Wedge!" Cloud shouted as he knelt beside his body. Wedge smiled weakly, "Cloud …you remembered ...my name. Barret's up top ...help him."

"I'm goin' up! Aeris you take care of Wedge." Cloud ordered before he grabbed Tifa's hand and lead her to the entrance. She broke free for a moment and told Aeris, "I have a bar here in the slums. There's a little girl named Marlene…"

"Don't worry, I'll take her somewhere safe." Aeris reassured. Tifa nodded gratefully and ran to catch up with Cloud.

"Wedge do you want some elixir?" Tarae asked after propping him up against a wall.

"No, …go save Marlene." she nodded sadly, "Come on Aeris!"

Once the girls reached the bar, Tarae immediately gathered her things.

"Marlene, you need to come with us!" Aeris calmly told the little girl while holding out her hand. Marlene took her hand and followed the girls.

"So what's Cloud like?" Aeris asked once they couldn't see the bar anymore.

"A weenie who can't communicate his feelings." Tarae answered, snickering.

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Marlene." Marlene was too shocked to answer Aeris's question because two soldiers surrounded the group. The leader of the two soldiers approached them. He had long brown hair and wore a Turk uniform.

"Tseng." Aeris muttered before she hid the little girl behind her. Tseng ignored Aeris and faced Tarae, "What are you doing here Miss Destine? This area is restricted."

"I had to get a shipment of scrap metal to my factory and I didn't want to work with that moron in Sector 6. I had no idea that Shinra was going to release the plate."

"Allow me to escort you to out of Sector 7 then." He said and then turned to Aeris, "And as for you. Surrender now or we will force you to Shinra H.Q.." 

"I'll surrender if you promise to take this child to a safe place." She gestured to Marlene.

"Agreed." Tseng said calmly while leading them to the helicopter.

          At Aeris house, Marlene, Tarae and Elmira waved good-bye to Aeris when the helicopter ascended back over Sector 7.

"Will Aeris be okay?" Marlene asked as Tarae tucked her in Aeris's bed.

"Of course! We'll rescue her when your father comes."

"You know what? I think it's sad that Aeris's real mother died. I never knew my mom either."

"Neither did I. My mom died after I was born."

"Your father was there to protect you, right?." 

"I never met my father. My aunt and uncle watched over me until I was 8 years old." 

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry about it. Now get some sleep." Tarae said before she kissed the top of Marlene's head. She quietly snuck out of the house and walked to the garden next door. A few tears rolled down her cheeks when she sat down. Family, Tarae's only weakness. She is the oldest one in the family because everyone else was dead. They died from a Jenova cell experiment, except her aunt and uncle. Sephiroth murdered them. 

**_"You are not entirely alone. Tifa and Aeris are practically older sisters to you." _**She froze when she realized the planet actually spoke to her.

"Thank you, I will remember that." She said as she stood up, _"Wow, it's been 2 hours already."_ She walked back to the house just in time to see Cloud and the others getting ready to leave.

"We thought you were taken to Shinra H.Q.." Tifa declared when Tarae approached them.

"I couldn't just leave you guys." she smiled, "We have to save Aeris together!"

"So do ya gotta plan on how to get ta Midgar?" Barret asked. Tarae took a deep breath and raised her fist, but brought it back down when she said, "No."

"Let's go to Wall Market and see if there's any way to get to Midgar." Cloud suggested.

"Okay Miss Cloud-, I meant Cloud" Tarae said while trying to hold back laughter.

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Sorceress Myst: Welp here's another chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter will have some Scarlet bashing. C ya!****


	5. Rescuing Aeris

Chapter 5

I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters except for Tarae.

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          "100 Gil each? I still don't see why we need them." Cloud complained as he stared at the batteries he purchased. The team was climbing the plate to Midgar.

"I'll take them if you're just going to throw them away!" exclaimed Tarae.

"No, da man said dat we need them to climb da plate." Barret bellowed, "Yo! I think we could use one of da batteries here." Cloud ignored him and looked at the yellow box and the propeller, "If I place a battery here …then maybe the propeller will work." The propeller turned a few times then eventually stopped.

"That was convenient. It stopped in the exact place we needed it." Tifa said, breaking the shocked silence amongst the group.

"Fascinating …I have to ask Reeve about those." Tarae sarcastically said while jumping on one of the fan blades. Soon they reached the swinging bar. Cloud kept jumping too soon and missing the bar. Barret and Tifa were already on the other side waiting while Tarae watched him.

"Hey Cloud, can I have the last battery?"

"Sure." He muttered and tried again. This time he finally made it across.

"'Bout time." Barret muttered. Cloud looked back to see if Tarae could make it across but she wasn't even in sight.

"Where did she go?" Barret and Tifa shrugged to his question. Soon Tarae was climbing down to the swinging bar and jumped to Cloud and the others.

"Here, I found ether with that battery." She said. He just glared at her and muttered, "…Cheater."

"What?" she wailed out while catching up to the team.

          Finally the Shinra H.Q. building was in sight, Cloud, Tifa, and Barret had their weapons ready and nodded to each other. Tarae just gazed at the helicopter that was just landing on the other side of the building.

_"I wonder if Rufus is here?"_ she thought as she followed.

"Hey, you oughta know this building pretty well." Barret said, lowering the volume of his booming voice.

"…Not really, now that I think about, this is the first time I've ever been to Headquarters" answered Cloud

"I've heard of this place before. Every place above the 60th is special and not easy to get to, even for employees. Must be where they took Aeris. The security's pretty light now. Awright, let's go!" Barret tries to run to the front entrance, but Tifa stops him, "Wait a second! You're not thinking of just going right through the main entrance, are you?"

Barret faces Tifa, "Well what else does it look like?! I'm gonna kick some Shinra butt and…"

"That's not going to work! We've got to find another way…" Barret gets angry and continues the argument, "Ain't gonna be no other way! If we keep wastin' time like this, Aeris'll…"

"I know that! But if we get caught here…" Tifa starts to think, then she turns her gaze to Cloud, "Hey Cloud. …What should we do?"

Cloud considers the situation then comes up with an idea, "Let's sneak in quietly."

"I got a good idea." Tarae said as she came out of the bushes. She was in her business suit again.

"I still say we got no time to waste!" Barret shouted as he once again ran towards the entrance.

"Wait Barret! Remember last time we ignored Tarae?" Tifa reminded him. He stopped and decided to listen to her plan.

"You guys could come with me and then once we get past the 60th floor, we go our separate ways. The people in the entrance would just think you're my assistants." She suggested.

"There's only one problem with dat plan. You said you can't get caught helpin' us." 

she sighed, "Oh yeah, you're right Barret. Then take the stairway to the 59th floor and get a floor card by stealing one from the guards stationed there."

"Wait a sec Cloud!" Tarae stopped him as the others headed to the stairway, "I have a feeling I'll be seeing you inside and I probably will have to draw my sword and fight you when I do."

"Why?"

"You might run into me while I'm with an executive or someone important. Don't worry too much about it, I'll act like you knocked me unconscious in battle. Oh, and take good care of Tifa." She finished in a babyish voice and pinched Cloud's cheeks.

"Stop that!" he ordered as he slapped her hand away.

          Tarae entered the front office and walked up to the front desk. The secretary was too busy reading a magazine to notice Tarae, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her short sword strapped to her briefcase, "No weapons in the building please."

She took this as no surprise and answered, "I believe I received permission by the president that I can carry my sword around in the building." The secretary looked up and stuttered, "O-oh! Miss Destine! I-I didn't realize it was you. The president wants to talk to you before the meeting."

"Thank you, I will go see him right now." 

The first person Tarae saw when she reached the 69th floor was Scarlet. She groaned inwardly as Scarlet made her way to her.

"Why hello Miss Destine! How's that piece of junk you use as a weapon?" She greeted in a stuck up southern accent.

"Just great! So far I killed 50 monsters with it today. It's so much better than guns. Especially since my weapon wasn't made by an old hag." she had a small smirk on her face from her come back.

"W-What?!"

"If you get hearing aids you might be able to hear more clearly. Of course it might be too late to save your hearing since you stalled for so long. You should have got some when you were 60." Scarlet turned red with anger.

"You should know that I'm 28 years old and should be treated with respect!"

Tarae looked shocked for a second, "With all those wrinkles? Hmm …could've fooled me!" That was the last straw for Scarlet, she prepared to slap her really hard. Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed her hand before it could make contact with Tarae's face.

"You should know better than to start a cat fight, Scarlet. You're an elder and should set good examples." Rufus scolded after he let go of Scarlet's hand, "Now go set up the meeting room."

"B-but she." Protested Scarlet. Rufus shook his head, "No buts Miss Scarlet."

"Yes sir." She mumbled and headed for the open elevator. Tarae stuck her tongue at Scarlet then turned to find Rufus grinning at her childish act. He quickly turned that grin into an irritated scowl that would scare off anyone, but she just smiled, "Thank you Rufus, you always seem to be there when I'm in trouble. Oh, and the scowling thing may work on everyone else but not on me." He held the look for a while longer, then finally began to smile, "I can scare away the bravest of soldiers and yet you are the only one who can still smile in my presence."

"What are you doing here?" Tarae queried, breaking the long silence between the two since they started walking. 

"I'm here to get a short summary of the meeting so I can finish up the work I have to do at Junon." He explained, running a hand through his strawberry blonde hair.

"I doubt the summary will be short if President Shinra is going to present it." She warned.

"At least it will be done before the actual meeting so I can return before its nightfall over there." Before they knew it, they had arrived to the main office and were immediately greeted by the secretary.

"Hello, President Shinra is ready to see both of you now."

"Both of us? Uh-oh this isn't good." Tarae whispered to Rufus as they climbed up the stairway.

                             **************************************

Tarae hated when she was right. For the past 30 minutes, she had to listen to 'President Windbag' give a lecture and worse, another plan to get her to join Shinra. This time he's using marriage to his advantage by convincing Rufus to propose to her. Secretly, she liked the idea but having the president of Shinra Inc. as her father-in-law made it a bad idea. Thankfully, Rufus refused to propose.

"The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is…"

"We are not rebuilding" her eyes flew from her paper to the president.

"What?" asked Reeve with a small tint of anger and shock in his voice.

"We are leaving Sector 7 as it is and restarting the Neo-Midgar plan."

_"He ruthlessly killed millions of people and wants to continue to kill the Planet." _She thought angrily.

"…Then the Ancients?" Reeve inquired. Shinra nodded, "The Promised Land will soon be ours."

_"It will never be yours!"_

"I want you to raise the Mako rates 15% in every area." He continued. Then this large man in a yellow business suit jumped up from his seat and began dancing.

"Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!" Palmer sang out, Tarae shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase"

"Oh man!" he whined as he sat back down next to Tarae.

"Sir. If you raise the rates, the people will loose confidence…" Warned Reeve.

"It will be alright. The ignorant citizens won't loose confidence, they'll trust Shinra Inc. even more." Reassured President Shinra. The other large man, sitting on Tarae other side, began to laugh.

"Ha, ha, ha! After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!" He bellowed in his deep Russian accent. Tarae shook her head again before her rival entered the conference room, the president was the first one to talk to him, "Hojo. How is the girl?"

"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process in comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is 18%."

"Actually, in theory, the offspring inherits half of intelligence, strength, power, and whatnot." Tarae said, interrupting Hojo.

"Yes, well as you said Miss Destine, it is a theory."

"How long will the research take?" The president asked before another argument started.

"Probably 120 years. It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter."

_"Too bad you won't be able to keep your precious specimens."_

"That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a longtime." Tarae nearly jumped in her seat, _"He isn't! Not Nanaki!"_

"What about the Promised Land? Won't it hinder our plans?" queried Shinra. Hojo thought for a while then said, "That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong …and yet has her weaknesses."

"Excuse me Hojo, but don't you need a specimen of the same type to breed with your new specimen?" Tarae asked while she stood up.

"Yes, fortunately I found that the specimen from Cosmo Canyon is also an Ancient. Why don't you come by my lab to see? I'm going to start the experiment soon." Hojo explained then left the room.

"I think I will. Here sir, this is the modifications and new discoveries of my project." she gave the paper to President Shinra, knowing he still won't take it seriously. She was thinking of winning his favor through a well prepared speech, but Hojo's new discovery wasn't good. President Shinra briefly glances over it and nods, fulfilling her expectations of ignoring it.

"That concludes our meeting." Everyone leaves except for Tarae and Scarlet. Scarlet looks up at the air vent in the ceiling, "Something stinks!"

Tarae looks at her and says, "Well I didn't smell anything until you opened your mouth. You know, there has been an invention called the 'breath mint' that can cure your stinky breath problem." Scarlet huffed and stormed out of the conference room. Tarae glances up to the air vent, "You guys better hurry to the lab." Then she finally left the conference room to see Hojo's new experiment.

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Sorceress Myst: And here's another chapter of Who Am I? What Am I?. Please review and watch out for the next chapter. C ya!


	6. Sephiroth Returns

Chapter 6

The only thing I own is a copy of Final Fantasy VII, which I play frequently, and Tarae.

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          Cloud peers around the corner to see Hojo and Tarae walking down the hall. They go through the door to the stairway and climb up to the 67th floor.

"Hojo …huh?" He whispers before motioning for Barret and Tifa to follow him. By the time the group got to the 67th floor, the door was left opened and no one was around. Barret walks up to the door, "I remember him. …That Hojo guy. He's in charge of Shinra's Science Department. Cloud don't you know him?"

"This is the first time I've actually ever seen him. So …that's what he looks like." he shook his head and continued to follow Hojo. They found him in front of a large glass cylinder with a red beast inside, Cloud and the others hide behind a box. Tarae seems to be talking to the beast by sign language behind Hojo as he rubs his hand across the glass. The creature responds by slowly nodding its head.

"Is this today's specimen?" asked the assistant when he walked in. Hojo rises from his position and answers, "Yes. We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level."

The man leaves and he continues to rub the side of the chamber, "My precious specimen."

"I still don't get how this is going to work." Tarae complained.

"For a young intellectual genius, you are still naïve about many things." He begins walking away.

"Me? Naïve? Then why don't _you _try to explain how it's supposed work!" she called after the retreating scientist. She pauses in front of a metal container then runs to catch up with Hojo. Tifa comes out of hiding and mimics Hojo, "Precious specimen…? Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?"

Cloud looks at the metal container and his eyes widen, "Jenova…" Tifa turned away from the lion-like creature just in time to see Cloud about to collapse. Nightmarish memories flood back into his head when he fell back, only to land in Tifa's arms.

"Jenova …Sephiroth's …So …they've brought it here."

"Cloud be strong!" she encouraged while hoping that he didn't notice that she was shaking. He sits up, "Did you see it?"

"See what?" Barret answered, facing Jenova's prison.

"It's moving …still alive?" 

Barret glances in the window and jumps back, "Where's its #$%@#@ head? This whole thing's stupid. Let's keep goin'!"

Tifa helps Cloud back to his feet then looks at the other end of the room, "Hey maybe that elevator will take us to the 68th floor." He noticed the frightened look on her face and gave her a worried gaze. She just smiled at him and made a motion to say that everything was okay. Barret grunts in annoyance for the hold up making Cloud sigh and say, "All right, let's use it."

                              ***********************************

Tarae stared at Aeris with an emotionless face when she saw her. Hojo unfortunately noticed Aeris brighten up when they entered.

"It seems like the specimen knows you."

"I may have seen her once." Tarae lied. _"Hurry up you guys!"_

"Professor! The preparations are complete, waiting for you order." Announced the assistant.

"Good."

"Aeris!" the voice rang out from the elevator. Hojo only glanced at them, "Aeris? Oh, is that her name? What do you want?"

Cloud frowned and yelled, "We're taking Aeris back!"

"Outsiders…" he rolled his eyes like a teenager would. Barret shook his fist in Hojo's direction, "Shoulda noticed it earlier you-"

"There's so many frivolous things in this world." He watches Barret aim his gun at him, "Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me who could operate them? Hmm?"

"Ugh."

"That's right. I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash moves. And Miss Destine, as a lady of knowledge, you of all people would know when to draw a sword on a rabid dog." Tarae finally realized she pulled out her sword when Cloud barged in.

"Hmm, it must have been by instinct." She muttered as she sheathed her sword, resisting the urge to drive it in his back. Hojo turned towards his assistant, "Now bring in the specimen!" Soon part of Aeris's cell floor disappeared and then the red beast rose up. Immediately the creature began growling at her and she runs around him.

"Cloud, help!" she screamed out, banging against the glass.

"What do you think you're doin'!?" Cloud demanded.

"Lending a helping hand to an endangered species …Both of them on the brink of extinction… If I don't help, all these animals will disappear."

"…Animal?" Tifa steps forward and shakes her head, "That's terrible! Aeris is a human being!"

"Barret! Can't you do anything?" asked Cloud. Tarae's hand mimicked a gun and pointed it to the container. he nodded, "Awright!! Step back!"

He raises his gunarm and began shooting until the chamber started glowing. Hojo's eyes widened and his former arrogant appearance vanished, "Stop! Wh …what are you do-- Oh! My precious specimens!" He franticly opens the prison, allowing the beast to pounce on him.

"Now's our chance!" Cloud exclaimed as he ran up to Aeris.

"Thanks Cloud." She gets out but he stays in there and slowly backs out.

"Cloud, what's wrong?" asked Tifa.

"…The elevator's moving." The beast gets off of Hojo, "He's rather strong. I'll help you all out."

"Ah …so you _do_ talk!" Tarae shouted happily.

"All right," agreed Cloud, "We'll take care of that monster. Barret, take care of Aeris!" He faces the beast, "What's your name?"

"Hojo has named me Red XIII. A name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish."

_"What happened to Nanaki?" _Tarae thought, frowning slightly. She watched Cloud, Tifa, and …Red XIII fight HO512 until Hojo grabbed her arm.

"Tarae, we must get out of here. It's dangerous." He begins pulling her away from the battle.

"What? You think I can't handle a battle against rabid dogs?" she sneered. She finally faced him to see that his eyes were different. Usually they were arrogant, even cold and distant, but now they were warm and caring …and oddly familiar. Reluctantly she allowed herself to be dragged off of the 68th floor. Suddenly, his eyes changed back to normal and he let go of her arm.

"Interesting. …Have you ever had the feeling that you met someone before? That blonde boy, …his name is Cloud, …isn't it? _She_ will be delighted."

"Professor?" Tarae never called him 'professor' but then again he never called her anything but 'Miss Destine'. Come to think of it, she wasn't really sure if Hojo even knew her first name. He shook his head and walked towards the elevators, "It's too bad I have to report this to the president."

_"It doesn't seem that they will be able to escape. I have a feeling Jenova will find Aeris so I'll have to get her and the others out of the building."_ Tarae made sure no one was around, then made her way to the security room.

          ************************************************

"Whew! Thank heavens the intruders were captured." The security guard sighed as he watched Cloud's team be dragged away on screen. The guard was too busy to notice the figure in the corner screen approaching the security room.

"Sleep!" the guard was instantly knocked out from the spell. Tarae typed a few codes in the command center and all the screens shut off.

"Now what was that code to erase five minutes worth of recorded information? …Oh yeah! EZ82217G… There, done!" With that, she left the security room and waited in the shadows.

          Around 4:00 A.M., Tarae was walking to the jail cells on the 67th floor hiding her sleep materia behind her back so the guard in front of Aeris's cell wouldn't suspect her. One she was halfway down the hall, she heard a door open and a man scream. She pulled out her sword just as a black object was about to hit her. Metal clanged and she was knocked against the wall, unharmed. The black figure flew down the hallway and turned left, more screams were heard. Then the figure walked toward the lab, giving Tarae enough time to see the mysterious man.

_"Sephiroth!!!__ I thought he was dead." _ she was about to check on the others but stopped when a loud growl emitted from the lab.

"Jenova…" she whispered in a nearly inaudible voice. 

Jenova's container was broken and had blood everywhere when Tarae arrived. She held her breath as she surveyed the damage.

"_The blood trail leads up. He must be after the president!"_ She ran past the dead bodies to ride the elevator on the 66th floor. On the 69th floor, a door had a large claw mark on it. Thankfully it was still operational so she could get into the main office. Upstairs, Tarae saw Sephiroth's masamune driven in President Shinra's back. Sephiroth was laughing manically as she stepped inside.

"Sephiroth!" Their eyes lock. Cold blue versus emerald green.

"Heh, heh, sorry little girl. I don't have time to play." He calmly walked out side with Tarae following him and flew away. She stood at the edge of the huge balcony, shocked. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the helicopter.

"Miss Destine? What happened?" Tarae slowly faced Rufus, "I saw Sephiroth. He murdered your father. I must hunt him down …to make him stop this senseless journey to the Promised Land …before he gets killed." She then jumped off the building and landed on a motorcycle as if someone knew she was going to jump. The motorcycle sped off and out of Midgar.

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Sorceress Myst: I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review. Thanks for reading and look out for chapter 7!__


	7. Ahead On Our Way

Chapter 7

Fagtron: Yea! I get to help out on this fic!

Sorceress Myst: No you don't, you just get to say the disclaimer and then leave.

Fagtron: Aw man. Sorceress Myst doesn't own Final Fantasy 7. In fact she doesn't own anything. …Hey! That means-

Sorceress Myst: Nope, I own you. Now get out of here.

Fagtron: (groans)

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Everything was pitch black. Tarae was standing in the middle of nothingness with nothing to do but listen to the planet's cry.

_"I must be dreaming." _She looked up and fell on her back. She was very calm at the moment. No anger, no fear, no reason to be happy. Sighing, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"AHAHAHAHA!!!!" Her eyes snapped open and she found herself in …the Lifestream?

"I will rule this world. …I will become a god!" the voice came from behind. She turned to find Sephiroth walking toward her, carrying his masamune and the head of Jenova. She began backing away as he raised Jenova's head above him, "I will become a god and rule the world with my mother beside me."

He floated up to the top and Tarae started to swim after him. She tried to call him back, but no words came. Once she was about to reach the surface, a hand shot out and grabbed her ankle. It was a woman much older than her. Her chocolate colored eyes held in tears as she held on tighter, refusing to let go.

_"She looks like my aunt, but Roxanna's hair was a lighter shade of brown."_ Tarae struggled to get free but froze when realization dawned. Suddenly it went black again and a sharp pain to her skull came.

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          Tarae groaned from the major headache as she regained consciousness.

"Barret! She's waking up!" Aeris shouted. Barret mumbled a 'good' and made his way downstairs. Aeris pulled out a Hi-potion for Tarae. She drank its slimy contents, then sat up in the bed she was on once the headache was gone, "Where are we?"

"At an inn in Kalm. We're waiting for Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII to get here." Aeris paused while Tarae walked to the window, "We found you unconscious on the outskirts of Midgar next to a burning motorcycle. …Red XIII offered to carry you to Kalm on his back but you were too big."

"Hmm, I noticed you managed to drag Barret out of Midgar." Tarae commented after hearing him complain about the prices downstairs. Aeris chuckled, "He even let Cloud become the leader …once he found out he was going after Sephiroth."

"……"

"Did you hear me? They're-"

"…I heard. I never expected Cloud and Tifa to forgive him after what he's done."

"But you did!"

"Yeah, …I forgave Sephiroth when he murdered my Aunt and Uncle and destroyed my town …because I knew he was possessed by _her_!"

"But Cloud wants to kill him."

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

"Have a plan for what?" asked Tifa as she entered the room with Red and Barret.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Yo man, you're late!" bellowed Barret when Cloud finally arrived. Tarae sat down on a bed across from Tifa. Aeris was staring at her with a confused look.

"So let's hear your story." Suggested Barret after the long silence, "You know, the one about Sephiroth and the crisis facing the planet. Let's hear it all." Cloud stares at his feet, then takes a deep breath and looks at the group, "…I used to want to be just like Sephiroth, so I joined SOLDIER…."

          *******************************************

"…and that's the end of my story." He looks in Tifa and Tarae's direction, they were both either staring at the floor or their feet. The story he told was identical to the one Tifa told Tarae except in Tifa's story, Cloud wasn't in it. She assumed that Cloud was only trying to impress Tifa and hoped she didn't remember, but the way he described everything in his story made it sound like he was actually there. There was a large hole in the story and both Tarae and Tifa knew it, but Tarae made a promise and wasn't about to break it so she didn't say anything.

"Wait a damn minute! Ain't there more?" Barret shouted. Cloud just shrugged, "…I don't remember."

"What happened to Sephiroth?" asked Aeris.

"In terms of skill, I couldn't have killed him."

"Official records state Sephiroth is dead. I read it in the newspaper." Tifa answered, finally looking up. Tarae thought she sounded kind of upset.

"Shinra Inc. owns that paper so you couldn't- Tarae, weren't you there? The paper said you were there with Hojo surveying the aftermath." Sweat trickled down Tarae's back as all undivided attention was on her, _"Mental note: Hire Aeris for advertisement campaigns. She seems to have a knack for attracting attention towards me."_

"…Yeah, I was there. Hojo asked me to come …so he could show me Jenova." Out of the corner of her eye she could see Aeris mouthing off 'He knows?'. Tarae slightly nodded, to everyone else it looked like she was trying to block out a painful memory, "I only saw Tifa. Zangan snuck her out of town while I distracted Hojo and the Shinra soldiers. I stayed away from the reactor so I wouldn't know who was left in there except for Tifa's dad. Since he was dead, they dragged them out. I ordered three soldiers to bury him near the materia fountain and then I laid Nibelheim wildflowers on his grave. But anyway, they shipped Jenova's body to Midgar and Hojo only complained about not finding Sephiroth's body. That's pretty much it."

"Damn! Don't none of this make sense! I'm going, going, going, gone! And I'm leaving the thinking to you!" Barret storms out while Cloud mutters, "Oh brother."

"Oh Gawd. He's prepped." Tarae grumbles.

"Cloud? How bad was I when Sephiroth cut me?" Tifa asked, walking up to Cloud.

"I thought you were a goner …I was really sad." He answered as he stared deep into her ruby eyes. They stared into each others eyes and were moving closer. Aeris cleared her throat causing them to jump apart and look at her, their faces turning red. Aeris opened her mouth to say something but ended up shaking her head as an apology. Tifa breaks the silence, "Let's go. Barret's waiting." Tifa walks downstairs, soon followed by Cloud.

"Don't get any ideas." Tarae warned in a low voice.

"About what?" Aeris watches her nudge her head in Cloud and Tifa's direction, "Oh, …don't worry. I think they would make a cute couple. Besides I still love _him_."

"You better." Tarae said coldly when Aeris started to leave. Red XIII stirred and stretched, "What a fascinating story."

"Nanaki, wait. I know you are not good at these things, but when I was unconscious, I had a dream that took place in the Lifestream. I was trying to swim up to the surface until a woman who looked like my aunt, but with darker hair, stopped me. She was almost crying and kept saying 'no'. I think she was my mother." she explained, deliberately leaving out the parts with Sephiroth.

"It sounds like she was trying to stop your pursuit to the surface because she was afraid you would get hurt or die. Your mother is dead, so it would be logical for her to be in the Lifestream."

"Thanks Red." Red XIII smiled and followed her out.

"So where are we goin'?" asked Barret as Tarae and Red joined the group.

"Well, Sephiroth is heading to Junon so we need to cross the marshes. I'll take Tifa and Red XIII with me. Barret, you and Tarae are to protect Aeris." Ordered Cloud.

"Awright."

"But how are we going to get pass the Midgar Zoloms?" asked Aeris

"Why don't we meet up at the Chocobo Farm, rent Chocobos, and cross together." Suggested Tarae.

"Then how 'bout this, we will leave now and you guys will leave 20 minutes later and then we'll meet up at the Chocobo Farm. Okay? Let's mosey."

"Do you have some kind of fascination with that word?" Tarae asked as Cloud's group was leaving.

                            **********************************

                                               (Cloud's group)

"Hey, Tifa?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Tarae is up for this? …Fighting Sephiroth I mean."

"Why not? She suffered the same thing we have. Her town was destroyed by Sephiroth too."

"True. But back then, when I was in SOLDIER, I remember she always visited him and practiced sword fighting with him. Almost like they were best friends."

"Wow, Tarae must be very forgiving."

"Either that or she fell in love."

"Tarae?!?  Sephiroth's a little too old for her …and what about Rufus? She blushes every time he's mentioned."

"Maybe she tried to move on because she thought Sephiroth was dead. She seems reluctant to fight him."

"Even so …I can't forgive him. He set our town on fire, murdered our friends, …my father…"

"…Injured you." Cloud finished as he put his arm around Tifa's waist and pulled her in for a small hug, "Sephiroth changed in Nibelheim. I guess Tarae will have to understand when we face him."

"We reached the Chocobo Farm." Red announced, causing them to pull apart.

                              *********************************

                                                 (Barret's Group)

"Are you serious?" Aeris asked with a surprised look. Tarae nodded.

"I didn't see it happen." Barret complained.

"That's because you were asleep the whole time." Explained Tarae.

"You should've taken a picture of it."

"I did."

"Then hand it over. I wanna see it." Demanded Barret. Tarae started searching her travel bag, then searched her pockets, "Now the question is, where did I put it?"

"Search your boots." Aeris suggested in an annoyed tone.

"Oh yeah! Why didn't I think of that?" she wondered. Everyone stopped walking so she could kneel down to look for the item.

"You put everything in those boots. Do you keep condoms- I mean, condominiums in there?"

"AERIS!!!" Tarae fell backwards in surprise. Aeris was blushing as Tarae and Barret roared with laughter.

"Boy, you start thinking they're innocent and then they say things like that!" Aeris pulls out her staff and tries to silence Tarae, but she jumps up and hides behind Barret. Suddenly she runs ahead of them and says, "Oh my gosh! Do the others know about this? CLOUD! TIFA! RED! GUESS WHAT THE FLOWER GIRL SAID!!!"

"I didn't mean condoms! I was trying to say condominiums! Really!" Aeris chased after Tarae, leaving Barret to fall over from laughing.

                          *************************************

Once everyone calmed down from the incident, they purchased Chocobos and were on their way to the marshes. 

              ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorceress Myst: You know what happens next. They go though the marshes blah, blah, blah, avoid the Midgar Zolom and stuff like that. Chapter 8 will start out in the Mythril Mines. Okay Fagtron ask away. (Fagtron does nothing) …Fagtron! (she kicks her)

Fagtron: Oh! The annoying questions to attempt to get the reader interested. Is Tarae in love with Sephiroth? Will Cloud ever tell Tifa his feelings for her? What was the picture Tarae took? Could Aeris really be dirty minded? Will I ever get to stick around long enough to understand what I'm asking? Find out in the next chapter.

Sorceress Myst: Hmph! The last one is definitely a no. You're still too young.

Fagtron: But I'm a year old!


	8. It's Only the Beginning

Chapter 8

Fagtron: Guess what! I had a dream that I ruled all fanfictions n' stuff!

Sorceress Myst: Yeah and who cares? Tell them the disclaimer.

Fagtron: Only if I get to read the story.

Sorceress Myst: Okay then. I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters. I only own this idiot …

Fagtron: HEY!!!

Sorceress Myst: …Tarae, Robin, Mrs. Brentworth, Rufus, and Sephiroth.

Fagtron: Wait a minute! You don't own Rufus and Sephiroth.

Sorceress Myst: ……………… OKAY, SO I DON'T OWN THEM!!! …But I can dream.

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Aeris, Tarae, and Red XIII were traveling through the tunnels of the Mythril Mines. Red wanted to trade groups with Barret after they got past the Midgar Zolom. Soon they faced a fork, one leading out and the other leading to more tunnels.

"Let's go this way." Aeris suggested while pointing to the right tunnel. Tarae paused, sniffed the air, and walked up to the left tunnel, "There is more wind this way, so it must be the way out."

"How do you know?"

"Let's just say my early childhood was devoted to help my uncle in the mines."

"Oh, did you live nearby? Or in Corel?" asked Red as they moved on.

"No, I lived in a town no one has heard about." She answered, only looking ahead. Suddenly she motioned for everyone to stop.

"What's wrong?" asked Aeris

"I smell a turkie." Tarae answered. She walked ahead to find a blonde haired woman in a Turk suit climbing up a vine, "Hello." The woman was already done climbing and pulled out a gun and aimed it at Tarae, "…Oh, it's you Miss Destine."

"Elena? You're a Turk now? What are you doing here?"

"I was promoted after Reno got injured by AVALANCHE. I need to report back to Junon to help search for Sephiroth. Are you heading that way? Would you like an escort?"

"No thanks, I'd like to test out my new materia for a few more hours before I go there."

"I see. Tseng and the others were hoping you would help out in the search. Everyone says you must be the bravest person on Earth, braver than Sephiroth himself."

"Really? Why do they say that?" Tarae cocked an eyebrow.

"Because you are the only one who is not afraid of Rufus! When I see him, I'm afraid he'll shoot my head off with his shotgun. Please don't tell him I said that."

"Don't worry, the president isn't exactly one of my gossip buddies. So I guess I'll see you later."

"Farewell Miss Destine." Elena waved and left. Soon after Aeris and Red XIII came out of their hiding places.

"A …turkie?" asked Aeris as Red clawed up to the exit.

"It's a combination of Turk and rookie." She explained, following Red. When the group reached outside, they found it was already late night.

"I guess we were in the mine longer than I thought." Tarae said while checking her watch.

"Isn't it dangerous traveling at night?" inquired Aeris as she looked around for nocturnal monsters.

"Well, we could either A. Keep going and fight all the monsters until we reach Junon or B. Go back into the mine and wait for daybreak and risk getting attacked in our sleep." Suggested Tarae.

"I'll go with A., but if Sephiroth's there, wouldn't he murder us in our sleep?" asked Red.

"Looking at Elena, I could tell that Sephiroth is hiding in the upper portion of Junon. I think it's safe if we find an inn in the lower part of Junon." The group started walking. Aeris shook her head, "Elena's right, you are brave. Or are you getting a swelled head from the compliment? Your head seems to be 10 times the normal size."

"No, no, she's an egghead. Her head was always that big." 

"Am not!"

             *************************************************

Tifa watched Cloud give CPR to the little girl they just rescued. She couldn't help getting a little jealous and wishing she was in that girl's place. The girl began coughing and the old man picked her up, "Hey, hey! Priscilla you're alright!"

"Our work here is done." Barret said as Cloud stood up with a disgusted face.

"Why couldn't _you give her CPR, Barret!?"_

"Aw, why are ya complainin'? You jus' saved a live."

"Whatever, let's go find a place to rest and wait for the others." After a while of walking around town, an old lady came up to them and said, "I heard about what you did. You've done so much for Priscilla. You may stay the night at my house."

The old lady didn't wait for an answer as she pushed them into the house and left after saying, "Make yourselves at home."

"I'm gonna go look for da others. They should be here by now." Barret said, then walked outside. Cloud smirked and faced Tifa, "You looked pretty jealous back there." She blushed, "O-oh please. I-I was not j-jealous."

Cloud gasped, "Tifa! Your face is red! Can you breathe? Maybe I should perform CPR on you." Suddenly, Cloud grabbed Tifa and held her over the bed. His face was inches from hers and getting closer …then he dropped her on the bed.

"Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I was only joking around." He walked away as Tifa sat up.

_"He doesn't love __me.__" She thought, but all of a sudden, she felt something against her back. Cloud sat down on the other side of the bed so they were back to back, "Hey Tifa? Now that we are alone, there's something I wanna tell you."_

"What is it?" she asked, some hope returning to her.

"I've been meaning to say this a long time ago. …I …" The door opened and in came Aeris, Tarae, Red XIII, and Barret. Cloud didn't finish his sentence. He got up and laid down on another bed, "Let's get some sleep."

Tifa's heart was beating fast, _"Was he about to say …? Nah, he was probably going to say something else. If only we had a few more minutes alone."_

       ***************************************************************

       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tarae had another dream. This time she was falling and dived into the Lifestream. She drifted downwards until the green liquid faded away and showed a town. Tilden. She landed in front of a house she hadn't seen in ages. She watched as her younger self ran out of the house. The little Tarae was wearing a green jumpsuit, a white shirt underneath, and her hair was tied up in pig-tails by green ribbon. She ran to a little boy with red hair, her best friend. The older Tarae turned to see her aunt and uncle walking down the street holding hands. The smile formed on her lips faded as she said a quote from her diary, _"After a tragedy brought by Sephiroth, the very one I would look up to, the secret town of Tilden was engulfed in flames and the townspeople suffered a cruel death."_

As soon as she finished the quote, the town was engulfed in flames and the little Tarae was in a fighting stance with her late uncle's short sword. Sephiroth was a few yards away, his eyes were cold blue instead of light green they're supposed to be. Tarae couldn't take it anymore, she ran up to Sephiroth and tried to hug him, but he vanished. The fire froze and darkened and the other Tarae faded away.

"WHY ARE YOU HELPING THIS SPAWN OF JENOVA, CETRA?"

"I am not a Cetra!"

"YOUR MOTHER WAS A HUMAN, BUT WHAT WAS YOUR FATHER?"

"Don't know, never met the man."

"YOU DENY YOUR BIRTH AND HELP THIS JENOVA SPAWN. IF YOU CONTINUE, THEN HE WILL KILL YOU…" Tarae is held against a wall by Sephiroth, her own sword at her throat.

"No! He wouldn't!"

"…AND EVEN IF HE STILL HAS COMPASSION FOR YOU, HE WILL TURN YOU INTO A MONSTER!" Sephiroth disappeared and Tarae's arm held her sword. At the end of her sword was a body. The person faced Tarae to reveal that she was Aeris. Aeris fell to the ground and Tarae's sword was covered in blood, "NOOO!!!"

"CEASE THIS MEANINGLESS JOURNEY!"

"I can't! Sephiroth is too important to me! I can't leave him!"

"FOOL! THEN EVERYONE AROUND YOU WILL DIE!" Cloud is shown with a bloody head as he falls and Tifa was slashed where the scar Sephiroth gave her was. Then Red fell, Barret, Mrs. Brentworth. Tarae felt something in her arms. She looked down to see Robin, her throat already slit. She dropped the body and everything was spinning as tears fell. Unexpectedly, her arm shot out and the sword burrowed into Rufus's heart. His eyes were wide open and his teeth were clenched in pain. He fell and his head rested at her feet. A droplet of blood fell from the sword and landed on his face.

"YOU WILL BE ALONE…" Then everything went black. A gunshot was heard and Tarae fell into the dark abyss. Her own blood flying everywhere.

"…AND YOU WILL BE ALONE …EVEN IN DEATH."

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tarae silently bolted up in her bed. She looked around to find everyone still alive. She let out a relived sigh. No matter how chilling the nightmare was, she has to save Sephiroth. Tarae searched her bag for a piece of paper and a pen. She needed time to think.

          _"Dear Cloud,_

_By the time you read this, I will already be in upper Junon. We'll meet again on the boat._

_                   -Tarae"_

She taped it to Cloud's head and he continued sleeping.

          ******************************************************

Rufus gave Heidegger another cold glare. He jumped and began to shake some more.

"You better catch Cloud and the others."

"Y-yes sir, on first sight." He remained standing there like an idiot.

"Well? What are you waiting for?! Go make sure they don't set one foot in this town." Rufus sighed tiredly as Heidegger finally left. He turned off the lights. It was 1:48 in the morning, he needed sleep. He headed to his bed, but stopped when he heard someone singing.

_"What a beautiful voice. Who is singing?" he looked out the window and saw Tarae sitting on the edge of the cannon staring at the moon. He felt a smile creep up on his face and for once he didn't try to stop it._

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Sorceress Myst: Oh Fagtron! You can come out and ask questions again!

Fagtron: (Falls out of closet) Will Cloud be able to tell Tifa his feelings for her without being interrupted? Will Tarae's dream come true? Is Tarae in love with Rufus or Sephiroth? And if Rufus, will there be a blooming relationship? Find out in the next chapter THAT I WANNA READ!!!


	9. Junon

Chapter 9

Sorceress Myst: (While stuffing assistant in the closet) I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters except Tarae.

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The sun began rising in the eastern sky, first affecting the ocean, then slowly bathed Junon in a golden glow. The cold, crisp air awakened the sleepy town and soon both soldiers and townsfolk alike were busy preparing for Rufus's welcome parade. Tarae had long since left the end cannon and was now leaning against the railing beside the cannon looking out at the wonderful sight. Occasionally some soldiers or Turks would come by and warn her about being alone, especially with Sephiroth still around. Even if Sephiroth should come, she was certain her plan would work. After all it worked before when he destroyed her village.

          Despite all the hustle and bustle around Junon, Tarae could still hear the cry of the planet. It has been happening ever since she left Midgar. The planet's cry is probably the reason why she has been having all these nightmares lately. But what was more disturbing was the fact that Aeris couldn't hear it. …Which means that the planet wants something from her, but what? The crying became louder, causing her to flinch. Tarae did the only thing she could do. Sing. She sang in another language she knew since birth. Aeris and Red XIII know it so it must be some Cetran language. The planet began humming along to the melody after a few verses. Once the song was over, it was finally quiet for a while until she heard it whimpering. At least it's not crying as loud as before. She backed away as she realized things were back to normal. This was a nice accomplishment for Tarae because she was able to make the planet forget about its pain for a tiny moment through song. Suddenly, she bumped into a muscular body. She turned to find Rufus towering over her and by the looks of it, he was there the whole time. Tarae stared at her feet, embarrassed that she slipped up and let Rufus find out her secret.

"Why'd you stop? It was really pretty." She looked up to find that he was not angry but happy.

"I ran out of words to sing." She answered in a quiet voice.

"I've been studying dead languages too. I was able to catch a few words but I'm not very fluent in the Cetran language." Relief washed over her as he ran his hand through his hair. The relief was short-lived as she saw Red XIII come out of his hiding place behind a few crates and was stealthily making his way to a new hiding place. She quickly turned her attention to Rufus, hoping he didn't notice, but she found he was watching her every move, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just saw a soldier trip."

"So you say, but your face tells me something else," He decided to change the subject, "…Tarae? What happened back there in Midgar?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. Let's just say, it's about my pity for Hojo's specimens." She avoided his gaze until he seemed satisfied with the answer. 

"That reminds me, Hojo quit yesterday. No one knows why. Now we have to find someone to take his place."

"I hope that isn't a hint that you want me to take the job." Rufus chuckled and shook his head at her remark, "No, unlike my father, I _can_ take 'no' for an answer. Besides, you have your own business to look after."

"So …you got rid of Hojo. Is Scarlet next?" she asked with her infamous smirk. His face suddenly turned serious, "Miss Destine, I'm a president not a miracle worker. That old goat is too stubborn." They were silent for a long time 'til Tarae snickered, then Rufus chuckled, and then they both laughed loudly, not caring if people were staring. Once they calmed down, Rufus checked his watch, "I better go, are you coming to the Parade?"

"Of course."

"Great and also, since we are heading the same direction, would you accompany me and Heidegger on the vessel to Costa del Sol? It would be nice to have someone intelligent to talk to."

"Sure, I'd love to." He smiled and walked away leaving Tarae blushing a deep red color. Was it her imagination or was he trying to cheer her up? Deciding that the team is more important, she started to look for Red, but two soldiers blocked her way. …Two female soldiers. Tifa's hands were on her hips and Aeris's arms were crossed, both were ginning evilly at her.

"Oh no." Tarae muttered darkly as the girls began their giddy conversation.

"Isn't that cute, Tifa?"

"I know! I wonder when the wedding will be? I hope I get to be a bridesmaid."

"Me too. I was thinking we could wear pale pink dresses."

"Yeah, and we could wrestle the guys into tuxedos …providing we could find one that would fit Barret and one with a tail hole for Red."

"…Get back to work or I'll inform Heidegger." Tarae knew Rufus was really upset about Hojo's resignation and if Rufus is upset, then the whole Shinra Staff is upset. Heidegger is probably making this a living hell for the soldiers because Tifa and Aeris stopped on the dime.

"Yes ma'am, right away Mrs. Shinra."

"Bye Mrs. Strife!" Tarae called to the retreating soldiers, "See ya later Mrs. Bloodstone."

Tifa stopped blushing and faced Aeris, "Bloodstone? Is there a first name attached to this? Anyone I know?"

Aeris was about to shut Tarae up but she gave her the mock salute and walked away in the opposite direction.

       *************************************************************

          There were streamers and glitter everywhere as the parade began. Heidegger was marching proudly at the front, followed by three armed soldiers. After a few more units, cameras were flashing madly as President Rufus, wearing his usual arrogant scowl, came riding in a heavily guarded car. He didn't wave back to his hysterical admirers though he often ran his hand through his hair. However, when he seen Tarae, he gave her a small smile before he was out of her sight. Instantly, Tarae was bombarded with T.V. crews and people looking for autographs.

"Miss Destine!" A large sailor pushed his way though the crowd and led her to an alley way that leads to the place where the parade ends.

"Thank you Barret."

"You're welcome. We don't need ya to waste anymore time 'cause the sooner we cross the ocean, the sooner I can get out of this thing." He pulled on the white and blue jacket he was wearing.

"Really? I think you look good in the outfit. In fact, I bet Marlene would love to see you in it." he grinned at the mention of his daughter. They were reaching the end of the alley. Whistles and the stomping of boots could be heard.

"I gotta go load the ship." He gave her a pat on the back before running ahead. Up ahead, soldiers were standing in line and Heidegger was shaking a little with a smile slowly fading away.

"Is the ship ready?" Rufus asked coldly as he approached the tram.

"Yes sir, we'll get it ready immediately." Was the instant reply from the large man. Rufus enters the tram and Heidegger begins laughing again once Rufus was out of sight. In the back row, Tarae noticed a soldier fidgeting. Blonde strands of hair managed to show under the sides of his hat, leaving her a good guess on who he was. Soldiers dispersed as Heidegger ran toward him and smacked him until the tram started moving. Yep, that was Cloud alright, he didn't flinch once. Tarae came out of her hiding place as the other soldiers surround him.

"That was a disaster." Whispered the first one.

"Heidegger was really irritated…" Agreed the other.

"The man in the Black Cape's been roaming around the city, but we can't find him." Tarae froze. She heard of men in black capes before from Hojo. Cloud shrugged, "Man in a Black Cape?"

"He showed up two or three days ago, and killed a few of our soldiers."

"He disappeared right after that. There's a rumor going around that it was Sephiroth."

_"That's right, he did always wear black capes, but could this be related what Hojo was getting at years ago?"_ her thought was cut short as Cloud tapped her on the shoulder. The captain had already dismissed the others.

"You always did look good in a Shinra uniform." Cloud smirked a little, "Yeah, I was proud when I first put one on, but that didn't compare to when I first put on my SOLDIER uniform."

"You joined SOLDIER!?" his grin faded and was replaced with a confused look from her outburst.

"Yes and then I quit and became a mercenary. Ring a bell?" she immediately brightened up.

"Heh, heh, just kidding. Of course you were in SOLDIER."

"You're strange."

"Yeah …strange… indeed." She plunged deeper than before into her thoughts. Cloud fished for something in his pockets and brought her back as he taped a note to her forehead. He already vanished when she pulled it off.

_"Ha, ha, very funny._

_We were amused._

_-Cloud"_

A few seconds ago, she would have found this funny, but something was terribly wrong.

"Tarae!" Aeris ran up to her and bended over to catch her breath, "I have been ordered by Heidegger to bring you to Rufus's office."

"Aeris? Can you keep a secret?" Aeris stood up and stared straight into her eyes. Tarae was wearing her business suit so the high heels she wore with it made her slightly taller than Aeris.

"Sure."

"You must never tell the others, especially not Cloud and Tifa" she paused, then walked over to the tram as it has returned, "…Cloud never made it into SOLDIER, Hojo made sure of that, but when he said he joined SOLDIER, I thought he was trying to impress Tifa. I remember seeing him as an ordinary Shinra soldier and promised that I would never tell Tifa what happened to him. Now he thinks he had always been in SOLDIER."

"I know. Your grandmother told me days ago. It's best not to alarm him so it might be good if we don't tell him."

"My grandmother?"

"I can hear the souls from the Lifestream when I sleep. Every Ancient has a special gift besides talking to the planet"

"Oh. …I guess I should go see Rufus. Thanks for listening." Tarae climbed the ladder.

"No problem. I just wish you would talk about things like this to me more often."

             *******************************************************

Around noon-time, the ship was finally loaded. Soldiers were now performing the presidential send-off. They finished by twirling their guns over their heads.

_"I wonder where they learned that?"_ Tarae thought sarcastically.

"Well done. Keep up the good work for Shinra Inc." Rufus said as Heidegger gave each of them a special gift. Once he returned, Rufus glared at him, "Once word gets out that Sephiroth's here, Cloud and his friends will show up too."

"You _still haven't caught them?"_

"Miss Destine, by all means, if you could do any better…"

"No, no" She walked up to the soldiers, "I'm sure the troops…" she stopped at Cloud, "…are capable. Right Heidegger?"

"We'll crush them as soon as we find them." He responded happily when she faced him.

"We can't have them get in our way." Rufus faced the boat.

"Leave it up to me sir! Gya haa ha!"

"I thought I told you to stop that stupid laugh…" Tarae caught up to him as he walked into the boat. She mouthed '_thank _you' to him once they were out of Heidegger's sight.

          With one final whistle the vessel was on its way to a new destination. Rufus, Tarae, and Heidegger stayed on the deck watching the crew, sometimes dishing out orders. After an hour has passed, a soldier approached them, "We have searched the ship sir, no stowaways."

"Good. Carry on." Heidegger saluted and the soldier saluted back before running off.

"Shall we head inside then?" Rufus asked Tarae.

"Go ahead, I wanna look around some more." Soon she was left alone so she could try to find the others. She was just about to go down below when she ran into Cloud.

"Ah! Just the man I wanted to see." He stopped and looked worried. The last time she said that was in Midgar, just before a rather embarrassing dare.

"What? Do you have another dare?"

"No, I was just thinking about the past. You know, how we were such good friends and we shared secrets, like your crush on Tifa. Remember?" she had to know if he still remembered his childhood past.

"Yeah, I was in a fight with Johnny and you helped me. Ever since then, we were best friends until we left Nibelheim. What's your point?" Tarae breathed out a sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject, "Nothing, just making conversation. But, I have an idea if you still think you're not ready to tell Tifa. Why don't you take her to places you both like, or buy her seemingly expensive gifts or flowers? If she keeps refusing then you will know your answer without having to ask and no risking friendships."

"It sounds like a good idea …but I have to save Gil for the journey." Tarae pulled out a black velvet box and gave it to Cloud.

"I was going to give it to Robin for Christmas, but they gave me the wrong one. It's too gaudy for a ten year old and it doesn't have the blue diamonds to match her crystalline blue eyes. I think Tifa would love it though." Cloud opened the box. It contained two silver earrings with small glittering rubies dangling on a tiny silver chain.

"Thanks! I know she'll love them." He breathed.

"You don't have to give it to her now. Wait awhile, but don't wait too long or …. Do you remember that dare in Midgar? I have a lovely picture of it. I could show Tifa…," she pulled out her blackmail on Cloud that she tried to show to Barret and Aeris before. It was a picture that had him and Tifa hugging each other in their sleep. Cloud groaned, he should have known she was going to do that.

"Please don't" he said tiredly.

"We'll see. Hehehehehe." 

          Another hour passed. Heidegger was droning on about battle strategies he used at the war in Wutai. Tarae and Rufus were too polite to stop him. Tarae is always polite and Rufus, well he doesn't give a damn about Heidegger, he just wants to be polite in front of Tarae. Heidegger laughed loudly before sirens suddenly sounded.

"Emergency alert! Reports of a suspicious character found! Those not in detail, search the ship. Report when found. I repeat. Suspicious character found on board! Those not in detail, search the ship. Report when found."

"Let's go. Maybe it's Cloud or even Sephiroth." Rufus ordered. Heidegger was the first to leave, followed by Tarae, but when she reached the metal door, it slammed shut. They glanced at each other for a brief second before she tried to turn the handle.

"…It's locked!" Rufus tried to open it, but no avail.

"You don't suppose Sephiroth is after one of us?" he asked as he pulled out his gun.

"I wouldn't know, but I think Sephiroth is the suspicious character the P.A. system was talking about." She answered, her sword already out. They were standing back to back in the middle of the room so they wouldn't be caught off guard. Tarae rubbed her thumb against the silky green ribbon tied at the hilt of her sword until she felt something slide up her back, causing her to turn. Sephiroth appeared between them, facing Rufus.

"You seek the Promised Land too, little boy? I'll let you see it." He was about to raise his masamune. Thinking quickly, she kicked him in the back of his knees and rushed beside Rufus. His gun was ready to blow Sephiroth's brains out and Tarae raised her sword to a defense position.

"So, you rely on your little girlfriend to help you." He sneered.

"Sephiroth …it's that bitch controlling you. You must fight it." She said in a cool collective voice. He chuckled, "Mother, I think she's insulting you."

A low growl emitted behind him. A slimy brown snake-like creature crawled out. At first, it was Jenova's arm, then it grew into a hideous monster. It sniffed the air for Tarae's presence, then extended a tentacle to grab her, but she jumped out of the way and cut it's arm off with a throwing dagger. A gunshot was heard and soon the monster was screaming it's now bloody head off. Sephiroth smirked and charged at the unsuspecting president, his masamune acting like a javelin.

"NO!!!" Tarae screamed. She ran up to the scene, raised her sword, and brought it down. A flash of light came and when it was over, half of the masamune laid at Rufus's feet and the other half at Tarae's.

"Thank you Tarae, I owe you my life." He smiled.

"No, we're even. You saved me first." She said, pointing to the dead Jenova spawn. She then picked up the hilt of the broken masamune. She gasped, "Where is it?"

"What?"

"Sephiroth tied a green ribbon at the hilt of his masamune. This one doesn't have it. Maybe we didn't fight the real Sephiroth, probably just some clone."

"Or maybe he could've torn it off." He added.

"But …he couldn't have …forgotten me."

     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorceress Myst: Now its time for those crazy soap opera questions. (clears throat) Oh Fagtron!

Fagtron: How will Tifa react when Cloud gives her the gift? Could Aeris know more than she's letting on? Does Rufus seem OOC? Could Heidegger get any fatter or Scarlet any older? Did they really fight Sephiroth or a clone? And what is the story behind the green ribbons? Find out in the next chapter of Who Am I? What Am I?

Sorceress Myst: (blinks) Fagtron actually did something right? Only two dumb questions instead of sixty? Whoa!

Fagtron: I got mad skillz, yo.


	10. Costa del Sol

Chapter 10

Fagtron comes out with bongo drums and Sorceress Myst comes out holding a card, looking extremely irritated.

Fagtron: (Playing bongo) Say it, black mage woman.

Sorceress Myst: Why did I lose the bet? …(Ahem) Roses are red, Violets are blue, I do not own Final Fantasy VII, So please don't sue. (Fagtron snaps her fingers) …Uh, …thanks.

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"Radiance!" a large metal door glowed and fell to the ground from one kick. A young woman with shoulder length brown hair and emerald eyes dusted off her blue business suit and walked on the door to get out. She was followed by a strawberry blonde man about her age. The wind blew wildly at his white coat as he made his way on the ship's deck; his bright blue eyes were seething with anger when soldiers and sailors gathered around them.

"What happened?" he asked the nearest soldier. The soldier gulped, walked to the president and saluted.

"I-it was S-S-Sephiroth. H-he k-killed some of our s-soldiers and left th-this monster. A-AVALANCHE musta killed it b-b-because someone saw a m-man with spiky blonde hair. He-he was gone before a-anyone c-could c-c-catch him." Suddenly Rufus's cold stare was on Tarae.

"You knew all along didn't you!?" He took two steps in her direction so they were only a few inches apart. Now that she was in high heels, he didn't tower over her anymore, but was at an even eye level with her.

"You knew Heidegger was going to mess up." His voice rose as he circled her, "You could have prevented this, Miss Destine, but instead you choose to insult him. Do you realize that this is your fault?!" He stops in front of her, fingering his gun in agitation. Everyone gasped as Tarae did something no one had the guts to do. Instead of apologizing and backing off like everyone else, she took one more step closer and stared straight into his eyes.

"MY fault? That's not fair! Is it my fault that Heidegger didn't do a background check on every single soldier on this ship? If he did then they would have been found a long time ago." Her anger matched his. It was so silent on the ship now, people sworn they could hear her voice echoing off the waves.

"Well, that is true. I'm sorry for accusing you Miss Destine, it really is Heidegger's fault to begin with." He said as he turned away from her. A collective sigh was heard when everyone released their breath as they have been holding it the whole time. Rufus faced all of them.

"Well? What are you all doing here!? GET BACK TO WORK!!!!" Soldiers and sailors scattered and ran for their lives to the lower portion of the deck or down stairs. He kicked nearby boxes in blind rage and cursed under his breath. Tarae hadn't budged an inch, but her eyes followed him everywhere until he stopped and leaned against the railing. She approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump.

"Don't worry. It's not the end of the world. I'm sure you can avenge your father's death by finding the Promised Land without the help of an Ancient." She said in a quiet voice, almost in a whisper.

"It's not about my father. He can rot in hell for all I care."

"What a horrible thing to say. At least you _had_ a father. I had to raise myself for most of my life." She stood beside him staring out to sea now that she had his undivided attention, "I cry myself to sleep every night, knowing my parents will never see the special milestones in my life." She turned away so he wouldn't see the tears already forming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. …There are a lot of things on my mind. Tell me the truth this time, why are you after Sephiroth?" he asked, completely forgetting his anger.

"He is special to me. …That's all." Her eyes widened for a moment as she remembered something then she frowned slightly.

"Dock workers –We will be docking in Costa del Sol in 5 minutes. Prepare for docking."

"Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Shinra. I must be going now… farewell."

"Are you mad at me? You tend to be formal when you're angry."

"I'm not mad at you. I just remembered something …well someone. …Was Hojo head of the Jenova Project?"

"Yeah, after Professor Gast disappeared. Why?"

"I gotta ask him something important. Bye Rufus." She descended the stairway to the lower deck only to hear Rufus faintly say, "I really envy you. Sometimes it's better not having a father, especially when they do unspeakable acts that you have to cover up."

         ********************************************

"Oh, too bad. I liked Barret's sailor suit. He looked so cute." Aeris said, smiling. They walked off the plank and gathered around on the dock. Barret hid the sailor suit behind his back.

"What'ya mean 'cute'?" he growled. Cloud looked absolutely horrified and repulsed at the thought of Barret and cute in the same sentence. Tifa and Aeris saw this and giggled uncontrollably.

"Right …well, uh. Barret, why don't you use that sailor suit for pajamas?" Tifa suggested while trying not to laugh again, "Right Cloud?"

"This isn't a vacation, we're here after Sephiroth. I'm going on ahead."

"I agree with Cloud, although he wasn't serious." Tarae had her arms crossed and was looking down so no one could see her eyes.

"What happened to you? You look absolutely… pissed." Tifa observed, Aeris suddenly had a knowing look on her face, "Did you have a fight with Rufus?"

"No …it's nothing. I'm better now." She flicked her hair, sending the beads of sweat that formed on her neck flying. Cloud had a mischievous grin on his face as he looked at Tifa and Aeris. They glanced back at him and soon got the same look.

"Oh really? When we were hiding, we heard from some soldiers that you and Rufus were stuck in the same room together and…" He couldn't finish the sentence as he, Tifa, and Aeris started laughing really hard.

"Huh?" She looked confused for a minute then it finally clicked, "HEY!!! I wouldn't try anything like that!"

"Don't worry 'bout them. Me an' Red know ya wouldn't do somethin' like that." Barret said while shaking a fist in their direction. Red XIII staggered up to her and covered his nose with his paw to protect it from the heat, "I'm sure they don't think you would do it either. They're probably just getting you back for all the times you said immature things about them."

"Well …can't argue with that logic." She crossed her arms as the laughter died down, "Wait a minute! I have blackmail on most of you."

"You don't have any on me." Aeris added with a bright smile. She backed away as Tarae shot an accusing finger at her, "Just you wait. Soon I'll have dirt on you too!"

"Would you kindly hurry? The heat here is drying up my nose." Red asked politely. Cloud glanced in his direction and said, "Okay, we're gonna find an inn and leave at dawn. How's that sound?"

"Great! Y'all be sure to mingle like regular folks 'round here." Barret declared before he started running to the entrance while still trying to hide the sailor suit from everyone's eyes.

"100 Gil says he'll lock himself in a bathroom to wear that thing." Tarae muttered dryly. Cloud stared after Barret, "200 Gil says that he'll be talking to the mirror when he does." Red limped away after saying something about finding a cool place to rest in and soon Tifa followed him. Aeris started to walk away, but stopped, "I think I'll head to the beach and get a healthy tan. What do you think Cloud?"

"I like fair complexions." He muttered while staring at Tifa. He walked off ignoring Aeris.

"Darn. There goes another plan to get Tifa and him together, I was thinking about taking Tifa with me. Thanks a lot Tarae, now I'm as obsessed as you are about getting them together. Actually …it's kinda fun." Tarae flicked her hair again before she trailed after Aeris. She stopped when she suddenly heard a clink. It sounded like a small chunk of metal hitting concrete. She shrugged it off and continued on her way.

    *******************************************

          Aeris closed her eyes against the gentle sea breeze as it blew the strands of light brown hair that escaped from her braid. Her hands were slightly squeezing the railing as she peered down at the beach below. The green-blue waves rolled in and out on the golden sand and seagulls were squawking nearby. She only saw a few people down there, but on the left side there was a group of women crowding around someone behind an umbrella.

"Hmm, probably some big shot muscle man." She uttered quietly while she turned away from the beach and sat on the railing. She scanned the town for her friends. Cloud was at the information booth staring at some travel guide, probably plotting on where to go to next. Aeris shook her head and watched her pink dress billow in the wind. Will Cloud ever learn to relax? He really needs a girlfriend, someone like Tifa. 

_"After all they're childhood friends, they look cute together, and not to mention they like each other."_ She dangled her feet before chuckling, those were the same reasons why Rufus and Tarae should go out. Suddenly, barking was heard across from her. Tarae came out of the inn, dressed in her normal attire, and accidentally stepped on Red XIII's tail as she was making her way to a bench so she could put on her boots. She watched Tarae apologize to Red until she spied Tifa talking to a man with spiky red hair. He was the same guy who bought a flower from her in Sector 6 near the Honey Bee Inn. What was his name? Johnny? At first Tifa was laughing with him, then she began to get a little annoyed when he kept trying to ask her out.

"Aeris to the rescue!" she quietly sang out as she quickly ran to the scene, grabbed her by the wrist, and shouted loud enough for Johnny to hear, "Come on Tifa! We have to talk."

"A-about what?" she asked, trying to catch up to Aeris's quick strides.

"Nothing. You just looked like you needed help."

"Oh. Thanks Aeris. Johnny's another childhood friend of mine. I thought he could tell me what happened to my other friends, but all he wanted was a date. Oof!" Aeris stopped abruptly causing her to almost crash into her. Because Red kept growling at her, Tarae had long since given up on apologizing and was tying her last boot.

"Hey Tifa. Let's go brighten Tarae's day." Aeris was already dragging her to the bench before she could answer.

          Tarae finished tying her boot and shook it around. Now that she has removed all the small items she stores in them, her boots felt huge. The wooden bench creaked, causing her to sit up once she realized two people were invading her personal space. On her right was Tifa, smiling like she always does, and on her left was Aeris with an evil looking grin plastered on her face.

"You know what Tarae? I've noticed you always hang around the guys so I think it's time we hung out and talk about girl things. Right Tifa?"

"…Uh, y-yeah." Stuttered Tifa, still unsure about what's going on. Tarae glances at Tifa, then back at Aeris, "Sounds like you're a step behind. You're supposed fill her in _before you pull her into the mess." Aeris chose to ignore her._

"Now what should we talk about? How about …relationships?" Just as soon as Aeris said 'relationships', Tarae bolted up and was about to leave until Aeris also stood up and stopped her.

"Let's start with …Tifa." Tarae ceased with her struggling instantly. Tifa suddenly found the ground interesting. Seeing that no one was going to speak, Aeris decided to start the conversation, "Wouldn't you have an easier time telling Cloud if you already knew how he felt about you? Tarae, you're his friend, enlighten us." Tarae shook her head, "No way! That wouldn't be fair to Cloud. Just as it wouldn't be fair to Tifa if I told Cloud her feelings." 

"That's it!" Aeris faced Tifa, "Tarae could tell Cloud and if he doesn't feel the same way, then you can just deny it!"

"Don't listen to this airhead!" Tarae slightly pushed Aeris aside, "That won't even work! All you can do is wait for the right moment and then seize the day. I know it will be hard, but close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let it out. Plus, even if I did tell, he wouldn't believe me." Tifa smiled, "Thanks Tarae, I sure your advice will work." Aeris stared at the ground with her arms crossed and still had that grin on her face, "Too bad she can't take her own advice and tell Rufus how she feels."

"YOU SHOULD TALK LIL' MISS I'M-IN-LOVE-WITH---" she sees Cloud walking towards them, "Hi Cloud! Now that there's a man in the group, we can stop this stupid 'girl talk'."

"Okay, we can do that." Aeris responded calmly. Cloud sat down next to Tifa, after remembering what they were talking about, turned away so he wouldn't see her blushing.

"So what were you talking about that got Tarae so pissed?" he asked.

"Nothing." Aeris and Tifa said quickly, but Tarae shouted, "Stupid girl stuff!"

"I …see." He looked at Tifa, then at Tarae, then back at Tifa, "Hey Tifa …umm."

"Yes?" she faced him. Tarae instantly knew that Cloud wanted to be alone with her.

"Aeris, you're going to the beach right? Let's go find a spot to catch some rays!" She grabbed Aeris's hand and they quickly ran towards the beach.

"They left in a hurry…" she commented while brushing a strand of chocolate colored hair behind her ear. She noticed him staring at her and found she couldn't turn away from his azure eyes.

"Yeah…" he whispered quietly. Tarae and Aeris were hiding at the entrance, listening in on them.

 ====

"He's gonna ask her out!" Tarae whispered excitedly.

"Really?!?!" Aeris squealed.

"SHHH! They'll hear us!"

 ====

"…Tonight there's gonna be a full moon and I was wondering if you'd like to take a walk with me on the beach." He held his breath as he waited for her answer.

"I'd love to."  Tifa couldn't help but smile. She was happy, excited, and nervous at the same time.

 ====

"Go Cloud!" Aeris cheered before Tarae nudged her in the ribs to keep quiet.

"Okay buddy, you're doin' great so far. Don't mess up. Don't mess up." she crossed her fingers.

 ====

"J-just the two of us?" she couldn't tell if this was a date or just a chance to hang out. Cloud wasn't expecting that question.

"Do you want to bring someone with us?"

"No!" Tifa answered, but then lost her courage, "…Well maybe we can ask Barret and the others if they want to come."

"NNOOOOOOO!!!!!" They both looked at the entrance with shocked faces.

"Was that Tarae?" Cloud asked as he stood up.

"I think so. We should go see what's wrong." Tifa blushed when Cloud helped her up. She hid her face as they walked to the beach.

 ====

"Oh crap! They're heading this way! …Aeris?" Tarae looked back to find Aeris staring at someone on the beach, "AERIS!"

"Hm?" she sighed in agitation after discovering her friend was not even paying attention.

"Look, Cloud and Tifa are going to ask if we want to come with them tonight. Say 'no'."

"What were you screaming about Tarae?" Cloud inquired the moment he saw her. Tarae got an annoyed look on her face and placed her hands on her hips, "According to you, aren't I always screaming about something?"

"Hey guys, look over there." They looked to where Aeris was pointing. Gorgeous women in bikinis were surrounding a man in a white lab coat. It was kind of an unnatural sight seeing a man with thinning black hair and thick round glasses that magnified his green eyes sitting among beautiful women. Of course it could be possible if the women were paid to do this. Tifa squinted her eyes to make sure that was what she was actually seeing, "If that is who I think it is, then no wonder why Tarae was screaming."

Tarae suddenly looked disgusted, "Ewwwww…" Cloud smirked at her, "Who? Hojo or the girl in the bikini?"

"The fact that Hojo is _surrounded by girls in bikinis." She answered. Aeris crossed her arms again, "You know, brain child has a good point."_

"Listen you! I had it up to here with-" Tarae was cut off as Cloud lightly hit her on the shoulder, "Come on Tifa. Let's go ask him some questions."

"Coming!" she chimed.

"I'm coming too!" announced Aeris. Tarae took a deep breath to get rid of some of her anger before muttering, "Wait for me."

          Cloud looked at Tifa and Aeris, unsure about what to do. Finally he tapped a girl's shoulder to get her attention. She let out a disgusted sigh, "What do you want?"

"Is that man Hojo?" she rolled her eyes in response. It took a while, but they finally got his attention. Tarae stayed away from his sight, but it seems like Hojo knew she was there as he threw a quick peek at her. Cloud was the first to talk, "What are you doing here?" Hojo smirked, "Isn't it obvious? I'm getting a tan."

"Heh, heh …good one professor." Tarae remarked sarcastically. Cloud only got angrier, "Answer me!"

"I believe we are all after the same goal."

"Do you mean Sephiroth?"

"Did you see him?" Hojo looked concerned for a moment, then started snickering again, "I …see." He got up and looked around. Cloud also looked around, a bit confused from the mad scientist. 

"What is it?" he asked while he calmed down a little. Hojo faced him, "I just remembered a certain hypothesis. …Have you ever had the feeling that someone is calling you? Or that you have been somewhere before?"

Tarae's eyes widen as she realized what Hojo is asking. He doesn't really remember Cloud. She made a 'Don't answer that!' signal to Cloud, but he didn't see her.

"I'll go anywhere Sephiroth's is at! To beat him and put an end to all this!" She groaned.

"I see. ...This could be interesting. Were you in SOLDIER? ...heh heh heh! Would you like to be my guinea pig?" Now he struck a nerve because Cloud immediately drew his sword. Hojo rolled his eyes, "Oh, now what? Are you going to draw your sword?"

"Stop Cloud!" Tifa placed her hand on his and whispered in his ear, "I know how you feel, but you mustn't." He took a quick look at her, then reluctantly sheathed his sword. Hojo laughed loudly.

_"I never realized what an aggravating bastard he is. And all this time I thought Scarlet was my bad influence_._" Tarae thought as Hojo walked up to Aeris._

"Say aren't you the Ancient?" She slightly scowled at him, "I'm Aeris. The least you can do is remember my name. I want you to tell me something, Professor... I know I'm an Ancient. My mother told me."

"Your mother? Oh, you mean Ifalna. How is she?" Aeris glanced at Tarae with a confused look and found her returning the same look.

"You didn't know? She died." Hojo turned away, looking regretful, "...I see."

_"I thought everyone knew. And since when did he ever remember the names of his test subjects? Why do I get the feeling that this isn't Hojo? Ah, it's probably the relaxation gone to his head. That's how everyone acts during their vacation."_

"Professor Hojo …Is Jenova an Ancient? Do we have the same blood?" Aeris asked with pleading eyes. Hojo only sat back down and mumbled. Aeris frowned, "He's mumbling slowly. …That must mean he's hiding something!"

"It's no use. Let's go." Cloud sighed. They began to leave until Tarae spoke, "Head west, pass the mountains. He's telling you where to go."

"Why would he?" Tifa asked.

"I dunno. Although it's not like we have a much of a choice."

"I guess you're right." Cloud agreed. Everyone but Tarae started walking away. Aeris stopped to wait for her, but she signaled for her to go.

"Hojo, I know you can't tell me anything about the Jenova project, but could you at least tell me my parent's names?" Hojo faced her. He was acting like he usually does now, "I don't remember the names of my test subjects Miss Destine."

"Figures…" She stared at her feet.

"Ha ha ha! You really want to know, do you?" her head shot up.

"Yes! Please tell me what you can remember." He shook his head, "I'll try, but you may not like it."

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Sorceress Myst: Whew! Finally finished it! Hey Fagtron! Get in here!

Fagtron: Who is Aeris in love with? Who are Tarae's parents? Did Hojo pay those women to crowd around him? And how will that date go? Find out in the next-

Sorceress Myst: Later.

Fagtron: Huh?

Sorceress Myst: Find out in the later chapters. All those questions in the other chapters are never answered in the next chapter. Don't you know that?!

Fagtron: Okay, find out in later chapters. BYE!!!!


	11. Of Friends and Memories

Chapter 11

Fagtron: Woo-hoo! Sorceress Myst left me in charge! She put an electric helmet on my head in case I mess up or say anything wrong! Sorceress Myst does not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters except for Tarae. Hehehehehe! Now I get to stay during the story! (The helmet electrocutes her) Hey that was fun! I rule! (Zap!) I'm the greatest! (Zap!) I rule! (Zap!)

Somewhere in a coffee shop…

Sorceress Myst: I hope that helmet is keeping Fagtron so entertained that she can't pay attention to the story.

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          Aeris watched the timid couple on the beach. The moonlight gleamed on her features as she surveyed her friends closely. Cloud and Tifa were going nowhere fast. The only cute thing she seen was when Cloud brushed his hand against Tifa's. Soon they were holding hands, but they were still too nervous to talk. The gentle closing of a door alerted her. She looked behind her to find Tarae quietly walking out of Costa del Sol. Aeris eyebrows knitted together in confusion and worry. Why would Tarae leave the town in the middle of the night with no friends and no weapon? She quickly grabbed her staff and followed her. She headed west of the town to a river that separated Costa del Sol lands from Corel lands. Tarae was sitting near the river's edge. Her eyes held a mixture a confusion, hate, and pain. Something Aeris has never seen before from her. She decided to approach her with a cheerful face. 

"Hi Tarae! Ummm…Cloud and Tifa's date is going well. They are at least holding hands." Silence only answered her, "What's wrong Tarae?"

"………They knew…" she hissed with hatred, "They knew all along!"

Aeris eyes widened and she stepped back, "What…do you mean?"

"About my mother. They knew! Shinra, Hojo, SOLDIER, everyone! She worked in Shinra under the name of Destine as one of the three female scientists who work with the Turks in crime investigations. All this time, they knew…" her voice grew softer and tears filled her eyes, "You probably know too, Aeris. After all you're friends with my grandmother."

"Actually," she sat down next to her, "She refuses to tell me who your parents are. And I'm sure Rufus doesn't know because she must have been there before either of you were born."

"That doesn't matter!" she cried out. There was blood on her arm. Aeris was now frightened as she realized Tarae was armed after all with a throwing dagger. But what was scarier was the fact that she was emotionally unstable enough to kill. She froze and nearly gasped as at dawned on her, she was acting just like Sephiroth. Tarae faced her for the first time that night, her eyes filled with demonic rage that made Aeris tremble in fear. Tears soon filled her eyes before she looked away and threw the dagger in Aeris's direction. It made contact with the rock next to her which made her sigh in relief.

"…It still doesn't change the fact that she is dead…" Tarae finally muttered after a long silence. Aeris stared at her with a confused expression on her face.

"She is? Why haven't I met her yet? I've called out to her in my sleep." Tarae shrugged, "I dunno. My aunt said she died an hour after I was born. Aunt Roxanna never lied to me." Silence reigned over them again. Aeris was allowed to cure Tarae's arm after a while.

"What about your father?" she finally asked.

"What about him?" Tarae immediately snapped back, making her slightly jump and hesitate from continuing the conversation.

"W-well you said everybody knew your mother…"

"…Only those involved in the Jenova Project know my father."

"Is he still alive?" Tarae snorted in response.

"I guess." Aeris translated that to 'Yes, but I don't know where he is'

"Really?! Who is he?" _"Finding her father would make her happier." She thought before Tarae stared at the river that was raging below._

"…a monster…"

"What? Oh! You mean from the Jenova Project? There is a way to cure him you know. If you just-"

"Oh stop it Aeris! There is no cure for that man! People would think I'm a monster too if they knew who my father is. He can rot in hell for all I care!"

"Tarae!!!" That earned Aeris a glare as she continued to scold her, "You have no right to say such a horrible thing about someone you probably don't really know! You're lucky to even _know_ who your parents are. …Orphans usually don't have that kind of luxury." Her voice softened. Tarae let that sink into her thoughts. Rufus's words about his father still rang clearly in her head.

"…It's amazing how alike we are." Aeris looked up at her as she got up, knowing she wasn't talking about her.

"Hmm?"

"I was thinking out loud, sorry. Right now, I'm content with Robin and Mrs. Brentworth around and having you and Tifa as my older sisters. Pretty soon Cloud won't be my best friend anymore, but a brother-in-law if he ever gets the courage to pop the question to Tifa." Aeris stood up too and glanced at her.

"I'm glad to hear that, but still…I worry about you a lot."

"I'll never intentionally kill myself, I'd hate to make you guys cry, especially Robin. But even then you'd give me those scared eyes and worry about my pain as if it was your business. You _and_ him." She started walking away.

"Him? You mean Sephiroth?" Aeris never received an answer so she softly said 'Good Night' to no one in particular and made her way back into town.

   *******************************

          There are many reasons why Tarae keeps small items in her boots. One of them is because her boots are too big and putting things in them reduces the chances of her tripping and falling on her face. Now she enters Costa del Sol with boots in her hand after falling down once and is ready to finally get some sleep at the Inn now that she felt a whole lot better. She can only hope her bad day ends once she slips into her bed, but the sounds coming from her room are telling her the day still isn't over. She shook her head, weird things have been going on lately. First small amounts of her money had been disappearing, then she gained a second shadow since Junon, and during the boat ride, she kept hearing someone gagging nearby. She quietly opened the door and flipped the light switch. Immediately, items were dropped and the figure ran around the room with lightning speed so it could try to throw her off. But all Tarae had to do was hold out her hand and it came in contact with the intruder's arm once it tried to run out the door. The intruder was flung back inside and on to the bed before she closed the door behind her. Sitting on her bed was a girl not much older than Tarae and had short brown hair tied up with a hunter green headband and hazel eyes. She wore white shorts, a hunter green shirt that was tight fitting, and an arm guard that was probably holding many weapons, stolen items, and tools for stealing. One look in the eyes told her that this girl is a Wutainese Ninja.

"Well if it isn't Yuffie Kisaragi. I have been wondering when our paths would cross." The girl looks shocked for a moment before getting angry.

"How do you know my name!?"

"All it takes is one look at the face to learn one's name from the internet." Tarae answered calmly.

"We never met before!"

"No, but I have seen you many times. You became my hero when you stole all of Scarlet's materia, guns, and ammo 5 years ago and of course my favorite was when you stole Heidegger's materia 2 years ago and he ran-no-waddled after you instead of calling his soldiers. The soldiers that already were in pursuit were knocked over because the ground shook every time he landed on the ground." Yuffie began laughing a little with Tarae as she remembered that day.

"But anyway," Tarae continued while pulling out a green materia orb from her pocket, "I thought it only fair to get to know your name since you probably already know mine. You probably also know that you are not going to be able to escape easily so why don't you relax and place all the materia you stolen from me on the bed." The young ninja audibly gulped. She didn't know what kind of materia Tarae held in her hand. It could be a really powerful elemental spell or some new creation of hers that could turn a person inside out. Whatever it was, Yuffie did not want to find out. So with much misery, she deposited all except Tifa and Aeris's materia on the bed. Tarae walked up to the pile and separated the orbs in two groups, then did something unexpected. She gave the materia orb she was holding to the materia hunter.

"Here, this fire orb has about three more battles before it is mastered and you can take this pile with you. The rest are untested or failure orbs that I think I should keep." Yuffie gaped at her before taking them.

"Why are you doing this? You should-"

"Turn you in?" Tarae put up her materia, "I know you have a good reason for stealing materia. It's for Wutai right?" Yuffie nodded so she continued, "Well, what do I need with so much materia when I could just create more when I return home? So what do you say? Friends?" she holds out her hand and Yuffie only stares at it.

"Friends?" she echoes.

"Why not? I don't have any friends my around my age, unless you count the president, but he doesn't act like a teenager." She shakes her hand after a few minutes of thinking and deciding whether or not Tarae was trustworthy.

"O-okay, we can be friends and uh….thanks." Yuffie was still a little dumbstruck from the unexpected turn of events.

"You're welcome. Now you better go before Tifa and Aeris come back. I don't think they are going to like it when they find out their materia is missing." Yuffie nods, then get up and walks to the door.

"Yuffie?"

"Hmm?"

"If you ever find my mansion, come visit, because I will have a bag full of materia waiting for you."

"Alright. I will. 'Till we meet again." She opens the door and leaves. Tarae sighs and gathers her things. She decided to go sleep on the couch tonight so she doesn't get a rude awakening when the girls find their materia gone.

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"Tarae? …Hey Tarae! Wake up!" she opened her eyes to see a blurry, spiky, yellow colored thing hovering over her. Once her eyes focused the blur transformed into Cloud.

"Waddaya want?" she slurred while trying to hold back a yawn.

"Well, I was just wonderin' why you are sleeping on the couch. What did you do to get thrown out this time?" he asked while leaning against the back of the couch.

"First of all, I've never been thrown out before and second of all, the reason I'm sleeping on this couch is because…" she checks her watch, "…three, two , one…" she points to her room and a scream emits from it instantly, "…of that." Tarae then pulls her pillow over her head as Aeris and Tifa run out of their room.

"We've been robbed!" Aeris shrieked as Tifa tried to clam her down.

"What?" Cloud didn't look convinced, but didn't get a response from Tarae when he glanced at her.

"All of my materia is gone!"

"And all the materia that wasn't on my weapon is gone too." Tifa added, "I can survive with what I still have."

"It's not like your special materia was stolen, Aeris. Just buy more…" Tarae grumbles through the pillow and fishes through her bag for some Gil. Once she obtains it, she throws it and it nearly hits Tifa in the head because she couldn't see. Cloud grabs the bag of Gil before it hits Tifa and hands it to Aeris. She takes the money then stares at the sprawled form on the couch. She then walks up to it and pulls the pillow off of Tarae's head.

"Why do I have the feeling that you had a hand in this?" Tarae puts on a shocked look.

"Aeris. Why would I steal your materia when I own a materia factory?"

"I would think you would do it for the laughs than the materia." She gets angry as Tarae smiles sarcastically.

"I would never think to take something so _precious _from you so you would ruin your beauty sleep ... _and mine_!!!!!" she yanks the pillow from Aeris grasp and puts it back on her head. She pulls it back off.

"Well if you're not guilty, then why are you sleeping on the couch!?"

 "With a mouth like yours, I wonder." Tarae smirks before pulling the pillow back on her head, making her voice muffled once again, "Besides, my materia was stolen too."

"What? Oh, I'm sorry Tarae. I really thought you did it." Aeris blushes a little from her mistake and backs away from the couch. Red XIII and Barret enters the lobby.

"What's all the commotion?" Red asks before he stretches. Cloud looks around to find everyone here.

"Nothing. Now that we are all here, I can tell you what the plans are for today. Barret, you Red XIII and Aeris are first going to a materia shop to get Aeris more materia and then head west pass the mountains towards Corel. The rest of us will follow 20 minutes later." Tarae finally decided to get up so she sat up on the couch to face Cloud and couldn't help but notice the look of sadness that briefly passed Barret's face when Corel was mentioned.

"Awright, we'll leave now." The chosen group headed for the door and Tifa walked back to her room to finish packing.

"Cloud? I have this feeling that you don't like Aeris very much. Of course I know you have a tendency to stare at Tifa and forget about the world around you, but the way you do that around Aeris seems like you hate her or something." Tarae explains while she puts on her boots and stuffs her recent black mail items in there. Cloud turns to her.

"I don't hate her, in fact I love her as if she's my sister, but she seems to be flirting with me every time I talk to her."

"Aeris?" They look at the door where Aeris was just leaving. She notices them staring so she smiles and waves at them before closing the door. Tarae smirks and faces Cloud again.

"Oh, don't you know? Aeris is my secret agent sent to make Tifa jealous. Hehehehehe…Actually, believe it or not, she isn't flirting because she already has a boyfriend and I don't think she would cheat on him now."

"Really?" asked Cloud, still looking doubtful.

"Of course! I was the one who got them to start dating. But speaking of relationships, how did your date with Tifa go?"

"I guess it was- wait, how did know about the date? Were you eavesdropping again?!" She immediately jumped up from her seat.

"Oops! Look at the time. I gotta see a man about some good sword proof armor." She then runs as fast as she can out the door and behind a corner so Cloud won't be able to find her before they leave. Tarae knew she will be safe when Tifa is around. Out of habit, she raises her hand to grab her locket, but is surprised to find it gone.

_"Oh-no, where did my locket go?! Its last gift my aunt gave me, I can't loose it!"_ Then it felt like she was struck by lightning as everything in her mind turned black. That clink she heard on the docks was actually her locket falling off its silver chain. After watching out for Cloud, she starts heading for the dock knowing it would be a futile attempt.

     ***************************************

          A masculine hand reached into a pocket and pulled out a silver heart shaped locket with tiny emerald gemstones set in it. The hand opened the locket to reveal a picture of what looked like to be a family. There was a man in his late 20s with blonde hair and crystalline blue eyes smiling at the camera. Next to him was a woman in her mid 20s with long light brown hair and brown eyes. She was holding an adorable baby with eyes identical to the man's. But the most noticeable one in the picture was the little girl in front of them. She had large green eyes and dark brown hair that was tied up in pigtails with green ribbon.

"…Tarae…" the man whispers softly as he put the locket somewhere safe, "…I suppose you'll want this back."

    ----------------------------------------------

Fagtron: I rule! (Zap!) I rule! (Zap!) I'm the greatest! (Zap!) (Sorceress Myst enters the studio) AHHH! Why'd you come back so early?

Sorceress Myst: Early? I've been gone for 4 hours! (Takes the helmet off of Fagtron's head)

Fagtron: Then that means…Oh-no! The story is over! I missed it!

Sorceress Myst: Ooh tough luck. How about you read those pitiful attempts to get the reader interested and then I'll let you have the rest of the day off.

Fagtron: REALLY!!! Will Cloud ever ask Tifa out again? Is he gonna beat Tarae up for eavesdropping? Who the frickin' heck is Aeris boyfriend already?! When will we see Yuffie again? And who has Tarae's locket? Find out in later chapters. Can I go now?

Sorceress Myst: Sure (Fagtron does a victory dance and leaves) Oh, before I forget, I have revised chapters 1-10 and the early chapters have new additions added to them so you might want to go back and read them if you haven't already. C ya! And don't forget to review please!


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